Ride of the Valkyrie
by Arthur Hansen
Summary: Ranma on the SDF1
1. Boobytrap

Ride of the Valkyries  
Robotech/Ranma crossover/fusion  
  
Jets slowed to a muted whine as the mid-sized passenger jet  
taxied up to a ramp. Runway technicians blocked the wheels  
and opened the door, letting the passengers onto the hot  
tarmac. Akane held onto her sun hat with one hand, her small  
suitcase with the other. Ranma was carrying the rest of  
their luggage. Akane called out cheerfully in barely stilted  
English, "Uncle Hyaki! Over here!"  
  
The older Japanese man nodded in greetings as he walked up,  
maneuvering sprightly through the crowd.. He sighed deeply  
in regret. He hardly even knew his departed sister's  
daughters. "Hey ya, kiddies!" He was a shorter man with a  
graying crew cut. He had the bearing of a retired military  
man, even if he did have a bit of a paunch.  
  
Ranma huffed and puffed a bit, lugging the three large  
suitcases and a small duffel bag that was thrown over his  
shoulder. Akane glanced over at him. Turning away to hide  
her smile, she said with fake anger, "Hurry up Ranma! That  
isn't too heavy for a martial artist like you, is it?"  
  
"Heck no!" Ranma tried to stick out his chest and balance  
all of the luggage at the same time. He came perilously  
close to tipping over.  
  
Hyaki grinned in spite of himself. Obviously Akane was  
goading Ranma into carrying the luggage through his ego. It  
brought to mind his sister, 'coercing' some luckless boy  
friend to carry her books home from school. "This way. All  
we have to do is get you through security and then we'll be  
off to my house."  
  
"Security?" Akane asked. She waited a moment and then  
relieved Ranma of one of the suit cases just as it was about  
to topple him over.  
  
"Just to protect some high mucky mucks. And the SDF-1 is a  
military base."  
  
"The TV just doesn't do justice to the size of that thing,  
ya know?" Ranma said absently, staring at the huge mound of  
metal off in the distance. It loomed over the skyline,  
blotting out the sun. Armor gleamed underneath the white and  
blue of the spaceship's just finished paintjob.  
  
Akane nodded appreciatively. It was so huge! And to think  
that they had managed to repair it. Akane was just glad to  
get out of that mad house known as Nerima for a while. She  
was lucky that Uncle Hyaki had won the Macross City  
celebration tickets for the launch of the SDF-1. Most  
civilians weren't able to get friends or family on the  
island for the launching ceremony. He had said that he was  
pretty lucky. Someone else had actually won the tickets, but  
had not claimed them at the time. He was actually the runner  
up.  
  
-  
  
Ryoga wasn't happy. Then again, he usually wasn't. He was  
cold and miserable. He wasn't sure where he was, but he was  
pretty sure it wasn't Japan. The little piglet (as Ryoga was  
in his cursed form right then) glared at the other passenger  
on this impromptu adventure. The lavender haired cat just  
sniffed and looked away.  
  
Shampoo wasn't certain how she had ended up in this sort of  
situation. She had been walking home when she had heard  
Ryoga yelling about `how could he be lost again' just on the  
other side of a wall. She remembered turning away for just a  
second. In that second Ryoga demolished the wall.  
  
Normally, that wouldn't upset Shampoo. After all, she was  
familiar with making her own entrance. But this wall was a  
bit different than most. It had had a water fountain in it.  
She and Ryoga had both been sprayed with the cold water.  
  
Now, this wouldn't have upset Shampoo that much, but she had  
been having a really bad day. She had just gotten a letter  
from Joketzu about her extension for more time to get Ranma  
to marry her was probably going to be turned down. On top of  
that, Mousse had been obnoxious again. He had backslid into  
his over-affectionate self. Cologne had finally ordered her  
to go take a walk to get away from Mousse.  
  
Shampoo really didn't remember much of the chase, just the  
fact that it had been long and very convoluted. She had  
finally cornered him in this place. Except it wasn't a  
place. It was an airplane of all places. After finally  
finished the fight, which she had naturally won, she  
realized that they were airborne and on they're way out of  
Japan.  
  
Bright light flooded the luggage compartment suddenly. Ryoga  
let out a squeal of joy and took off for the door. Shampoo  
sighed theatrically and followed suit. They both leaped the  
twenty feet to the ground easily enough. Soon they were  
running across the tarmac to what looked to be an airport.  
  
"Oh, look! How cute!" That was all the warning that Ryoga  
had before he was grabbed by his bandana. A cute, blond,  
nine year old girl stared down at him with the cutest smile.  
She made shushing noises as she put Ryoga into a back pack.  
  
Shampoo meowed plaintively, hoping that she would get picked  
up, too. Ryoga might be a jerk and an idiot, but at least he  
was a known quantity.  
  
The girl looked at Shampoo for just a second. "I really  
shouldn't, you know." She sneaked glance to see if anyone  
was looking. "Here you go." Mary scooped up Shampoo and  
snuck her in too. Wouldn't mom be surprised!  
  
-  
  
They breezed on through the security check point. Hyaki then  
led them to a nice mid-size sedan. In moments they were  
driving off down the road. Akane piped up, "So, Uncle Hyaki?  
I'm still not terribly sure what you do here at Macross  
City. Kasumi didn't say."  
  
"That's easy enough, Akane. I work as a floor supervisor at  
the Tanglin foundry. That where the armor and most of the  
really big metal work was done. Pretty dull work most of the  
time, if you ask me."  
  
"So you helped rebuild the SDF-1, huh?" Ranma had his nose  
pressed up against the window, trying to get a better view  
of the amazing ship that had ended the global war a decade  
back.  
  
"As much as any other civilian. Being a retired military  
engineer helped get me the job."  
  
"So you were part of the JSDF?"  
  
Hyaki locked gazes with Ranma. "A long time ago," he said  
flatly.  
  
Akane blinked in surprise. Obviously, a touchy point for the  
older man. Hyaki slammed on the brakes suddenly. "Damn it. I  
forgot about the parade. We'll have to go around." In front  
of him was a policeman, directing him off to a side road.  
Behind him you could see a crowd, waving and cheering a  
motorcade as it passed slowly on the crossing street.  
  
Hyaki maneuvered the car for a while in silence. "So, why'd  
they send you two love birds out here?"  
  
"Nabiki wanted to come, actually. I really... needed some  
time away from Nerima." Akane's voice carried a hint of  
longing that surprised her uncle. "So I talked my dad into  
letting me go instead." Akane sighed. "But Daddy wouldn't  
let me go without him or Ranma."  
  
Ranma blinked in surprise. He hadn't known that Akane had  
the choice of him or her father. What else hadn't Akane told  
him?  
  
"Sounds like you've got some problems at home."  
  
"Um, not really home... just life in general." Akane sneaked  
a glance at Ranma, hoping he wouldn't notice.  
  
Ranma did notice, but was bemused by the strange expression  
on her face. Not anger. That much he was certain.  
Uncertainty? Worry? And something else he had started to  
notice for the last six months. Ever since the wedding,  
actually. Things had settled down and into a pattern since  
then. Akane's temper had cooled a lot, while Ukyo and  
Shampoo had backed off just a touch.  
  
The number of challengers had dropped off too. He'd only had  
the occasional challenger in that same time. He hadn't even  
seen Ryoga. It had been almost peaceful. Probably the least  
stressful time in his short life. Ranma was dragged out of  
his ruminations as the car pulled into a small parking lot.  
  
"Here we go. Home sweet home for the next few days." He  
stepped out of his car, gesturing to the small apartment  
complex.  
  
Hyaki was suddenly interrupted by a loud rumbling and the  
sound of creaking metal. It seemed to be reverberating from  
all around them, growing louder by the second. The ground  
started to shake slightly, almost as if it was a small  
earthquake. They spotted what was making the noise,  
something was happening to the space fortress!  
  
A yellow glow was starting to pervade the front third of the  
SDF-1, as the massive booms rumbled opened. Crackles of  
lightening scattered across the surface, growing together to  
form a lattice of flickering red-yellow energy. It crackled  
across the open space in between the two `arms'.  
  
The three people stared in surprise as it continued to  
build. With a howling whine/roar, a beam of solid light,  
bright as the sun was unleashed. They watched in shock for  
the few moments it existed. It suddenly vanished out of  
existence, a thundering boom echoing to them.  
  
Ranma stared at the rearranged landscape. The small mountain  
ridge had a large divot cut out of it, just as if some huge  
giant had scooped it out. "What was that?"  
  
Hyaki stammered in surprise, "I'm not sure. It must have  
been some weapon system of the SDF-1. But why fire it now?  
Was it part of the demonstration?" A thought struck him  
suddenly as he looked off in the direction of the  
destruction. Would he be all right?  
  
"Hey, you kids go ahead. Take my house key and just make  
yourselves comfortable. I'll be back in a few minutes.  
Apartment 2-B." He unloaded the two teenagers as soon as  
possible and then hopped in his car, driving off down the  
road. A look of anxiety covered his face.  
  
Ranma just shrugged unconsciously. Oh, well. It seemed like  
everyone that he ran into was weird in some way.  
  
Akane led the way, opening up the apartment. It was fairly  
spacious, having a large living room and kitchen as far as  
they could tell. "Kind of nice." It was, being clean and  
fairly modern. Just the right touches of wood paneling and  
screens kept it from being too `sterile'.  
  
Ranma nodded. "Yup. Not too bad." He unloaded their luggage,  
putting it next to the couch. He shrugged his shoulders to  
relieve the built up tension. Sighing, he sat on the couch.  
  
Akane disappeared into the kitchen. "Do you want something  
to drink?"  
  
"Sure!" Ranma tried to figure out the TV, but it seemed to  
have no controls or buttons at all. "How the hell do you  
turn the TV on?" Ranma muttered to himself. All of a sudden  
the TV sprang to life, showing the opening ceremony. People  
were moving to and fro, in a panic.  
  
A mournful wail, loud and familiar, broke the relative  
quiet. Ranma winced at the volume. Air raid sirens!  
  
Akane had a far more drastic reaction. The glass she had  
been filling with juice crashed to the ground, spilling  
reddish-purple fruit juice all across the floor. "No!" Akane  
rasped out. "No!" She covered her ears with her hands,  
shaking uncontrollably. "No!" She then curled up into a  
ball, trying to keep out the hated/feared sound. "No!" It  
droned on and on, causing unremitting feelings to well up.  
  
Ranma called out when he heard the crash. "Akane?" He stood  
up and walked into the kitchen. He looked on in surprise as  
Akane tried to push herself further back into a corner,  
curled up as tightly as she could.  
  
Ranma licked his lips. This was definitely not something  
that he was well versed in. Tentatively, he reached out his  
hand, placing it on her shoulder. "Akane? Come on, you're  
all right!"  
  
Akane attached herself to that voice a desperation that was  
surprising to Ranma. She reached out and grabbed Ranma in a  
rib breaking hug, muttering, "Don't leave, please don't  
leave me, don'tleavemedon'tleaveme!"  
  
"Uh, sure Akane. Don't worry, I'm right here." Ranma  
awkwardly hugged her back, patting her on the back.  
  
Akane seemed to relax a bit and quit trying to break his  
ribs. She just wouldn't let him go, though. At least until  
the sirens finished sounding, which they did a few minutes  
later. The silence was almost deafening. She continued to  
slowly relax her grip, feeling herself to be warm and safe.  
A blush crept over her face, as she realized just how  
closely she had been holding Ranma.  
  
She let him go finally, ducking her gaze away from Ranma.  
She didn't know what to say now.  
  
"Ah, are you all right? What happened?"  
  
"I r-really don't want to talk about it right n-now. Maybe  
later."  
  
"We should get to a shelter, you know. It might be some sort  
of terrorist attack or something."  
  
"Yeah. Grab your luggage." Akane followed her own advice,  
picking up one of her suitcases. "I'll leave a message for  
my uncle."  
  
Ranma picked up his suitcase, but stopped himself from  
asking Akane why she only grabbed the one. Soon they were  
outside and heading towards the nearest official looking  
building.  
  
"Are you sure you saw the City Municipal building this way?"  
  
"Yup. Besides, you know that's the best place to find a bomb  
shelter." Ranma wouldn't realize how wrong he was, as the  
bomb shelters that existed on Macross Island were buried far  
beneath the ring of mountain. The only public access to them  
was in the foothills. A precaution against a foe that they  
could barely comprehend and their overwhelming weapons that  
could destroy a normal city in moments. And the standard  
shelters below it.  
  
They had passed quite a few people. They were soon in front  
of the building Ranma had spotted. Akane looked around,  
trying to spot the sign that told people where the shelter  
was. "Ranma, I don't see a shelter here."  
  
"I don't know why not. Pop always told me to keep an eye out  
for those sort of things. He always said that it might save  
my life someday."  
  
"So what are we supposed to do now?" Akane shaded her gaze,  
trying to catch a glimpse of something she had spotted in  
the air. Little flashes of light pierced the clouds every  
once in a while. She gasped as she saw streaks of light  
flash from the sky.  
  
Explosions started to pepper the city, destroying everything  
in a wide swath around the SDF-1. Danger seemed to scream at  
them suddenly, dragging their gaze to the south. Ranma noted  
with alarm the oncoming path of destruction. Instincts and  
skills honed by countless fights kicked in.  
  
He let go of his luggage and scooped up Akane as he started  
to race away from the destruction as fast as he could go.  
And Ranma was very fast. He had managed to cover a thousand  
feet by the time the missiles hit the ground where they had  
been. His speed helped buoy him along as he was overtaken by  
the edge of the explosion.  
  
Both of them were flung into a small garden, skinning  
themselves as they were flung through a few bushes. Ranma  
looked back, horror overcoming his as he saw the Municipal  
was a blasted wreck, a shell of its former self. "T-that  
could have been us."  
  
Akane nodded slowly. Something occurred to her. "Ranma? I  
don't think this is a terrorist attack. It's too big."  
  
Ranma nodded slowly. So this was war. What good were martial  
arts when compared to things like that? "We need to get some  
place safe. If we get out of the city, I'll bet we'll be  
fine."  
  
"Sounds good to me." Akane continued to hug her one suitcase  
as she staggered to her feet. This trip had turned into a  
nightmare  
  
With that the two made their cautious way across the city.  
It was a nerve wracking and tense time. Distant explosions  
could be heard from all across the city. The city kept being  
bombarded by missiles from the blue sky. They were almost  
to the edge of the city when a building down the street was  
destroyed by... something. It wasn't an explosion, it just  
kind of collapsed on itself. Around the corner a strange  
white bulbous shaped robot with two long spindly legs  
stepped out.  
  
Ranma's danger sense started to scream out. This did not  
look good. It was easily over a hundred feet tall and those  
things sticking out of it looked like the barrel of guns.  
"Akane. Run!"  
  
Akane didn't need to be told twice. She took off down the  
street as fast as she could go. Ranma split off from her,  
waving his arms. It seemed to work, as the `headless  
ostrich' seemed to follow him.  
  
The pilot of the Zentraedi pod was itching to strike back at  
these puny micronians. They had caused quite a few of his  
fellow pilots to be killed and dared to stand up to the  
Zentraedi. For that, they should all die for the greater  
glory of the Zentraedi. He manipulated the controls, lining  
up both fleeing targets.  
  
Ranma noticed the cannon being aimed at him. Trusting his  
instincts, he suddenly leaped to the top of a short  
building. That leap easily dodged the surprised battle pod's  
shot. He pivoted to keep it in sight, when he saw its other  
cannon also fire on something down on the street.  
  
"NO!" Ranma screamed, pushing his body to move even faster  
than before.  
  
He dodged another couple of blasts easily, coming to rest  
near a small, still form laying on the ground. Ranma knelt  
down next to her. There was so much blood. And she wasn't  
moving. Tears welled up in Ranma as all of his negative  
feelings of fear, anger, of being a failure arose. He  
started to flicker and glow with a sickly green hue.  
  
The pilot of the Zentraedi mecha snickered to himself. The  
stupid micronian had quit fleeing. It seemed to be trying to  
help the other one. He held off for just one second to savor  
the power he had over this pathetic creatures existence. He  
would just crush it under his battle pods feet.  
  
Suddenly, his energy sensors started to go wild. He looked  
over in surprise at the read out, noting that it was close.  
It was almost on top of him. How had that happened? He  
swiveled his gaze back, gaping in astonishment at the  
weirdly glowing figure in front of him.  
  
"SHI SHI HOKODAN!" Ranma screamed out, lancing out with a  
beam of destructive force that could punch holes in  
mountains. Instinctively he aimed for what he hoped was its  
weak spot was, the mechanical eye.  
  
The pilot only had a nanosecond to realize that the  
micronian was about to attack him, when the beam sliced  
right through the mechanical eye and then into the mecha  
itself. The battle pod exploded with stunning force. Ranma  
threw himself on top of Akane's body to protect her as best  
as he could.  
  
He was going to die before letting her get hurt again he  
swore silently.  
  
-  
  
"Roger that, control. Moving to engage the enemy in sector  
242. You heard the lady. Let's move `em out, Yellow  
Squadron." Lieutenant Foster said over the com. The snappy  
replies and the wingovers that his squad was all he needed  
to know that they were ready.  
  
Foster was a minute into the battle, when he happened to see  
something happen a few streets over. It was an enemy battle  
pod standing still. He was lining up the shot to kill it,  
when some sort of energy beam came from out of sight down  
the side street and exploded the pod. "Son of a gun." What  
was that? It almost looked like the enemy's laser fire, but  
different. "Miner, I'm going to go check something out.  
Cover me."  
  
He listened to the affirmative as he trotted his veritech in  
battloid form towards the exploded mecha. He moved like some  
sort of oversized SWAT trooper, keeping his back to walls,  
cannon up in the air like a rifle. He spun around the mecha  
around the corner, expecting to see, well, something else.  
Not two kids, lying on the street. One of them stirred,  
looking around. More casualties. He'd seen enough already  
today.  
  
He flicked the toggle for the outside speakers. "You all  
right?"  
  
Ranma nodded, surprised at this new humanoid looking robot  
that was speaking to him in English. He spotted another  
battle pod, leaping over a building, coming this way. "Look  
out! Behind you!"  
  
Foster spun his veritech around on one leg while dropping  
the gun down to let off a burst. He managed to hit a weak  
spot, as it exploded just before it landed. "Ha." He spun  
the mecha back around. Damn. He had to get the kid out of  
here. And there was no way he could make it with normal  
transportation. "Hey, Victor. You're in that trainer today  
for the demonstration, right?"  
  
"Yup."  
  
"I've got a civilian that needs evacuating. Get your butt  
over here pronto. Sector 242, mark 701."  
  
"Got it. I'm on my way."  
  
Lieutenant Foster switched his veritech into its half human,  
half jet mode and blasted off. He didn't have time to deal  
with civilians.  
  
Ranma turned back to the still form. He carefully turned her  
over, his expression turning even bleaker as he saw the  
wounds on her left side of her face. He just about succumbed  
to despair, when he noticed that she was breathing raggedly.  
Hope leaped into his heart for a moment. She was still  
alive. There was just so much blood.  
  
Ranma stripped off his shirt and tried to use it staunch the  
flow of blood. He seemed to be making some sort of progress  
when he heard the sound of a jet coming this way.  
  
Victor sighed as he zeroed in on the location that. No way  
was he going to be able to land without V-TOL. He snapped  
the switch labeled `G' and mechamorphed his veritech into  
its `guardian' mode. He landed about a hundred feet away and  
started walking towards the civilian. "Hey. You all right  
kid?"  
  
"I'm fine. Akane needs medical help now! She's bleeding  
really bad!" Ranma looked up at the pilot in the strange  
ship.  
  
Victor cursed under his breath. This is not what he needed.  
He ran over the possible solutions. Getting her into a  
bunker that actually had a surgeon ready to operate was  
going to be nigh impossible. He flicked on his com.  
"Commander Hayes, this is Yellow Seven. I've got a wounded  
civilian. Requesting authorization to evacuate them to the  
SDF-1."  
  
"What is it with civilians getting in the way today? Can't  
they go to the shelters?" the long, brown haired women said  
in vexation.  
  
"Negative. One is down and losing blood." Victor fiddled  
with his sensors, keeping an eye out for the enemy. "I'm not  
even sure which shelter has a surgeon ready to operate."  
  
There was a pause. "You making the right call. You're  
cleared to return to the SDF-1. I'll have a medic team on  
their way to landing bay four. Out."  
  
Victor popped the canopy. He then yelled out to Ranma, "Can  
you get her in the back seat?"  
  
He was surprised when the kid just picked her up and took  
two steps, then leaped ten feet straight into the air. Ranma  
balanced on one foot at the edge of the cockpit. He swore a  
bit. There really wasn't room for two in there very easily.  
He slid himself carefully in, cradling Akane just so.  
  
Victor blinked and then shrugged. It wasn't his worry. He  
closed the canopy and rocketed the veritech into the air,  
morphing it into a jet as soon as he cleared the roof tops.  
He managed to avoid any engagements as he flew towards the  
SDF-1 that was rising slowly on pillars of fire.  
  
The turbulence that the SDF-1 was kicking up was immense. He  
switched back to guardian for the landing. Jets blaring, he  
skidded into the landing bay of the SDF-1. He walked the  
last hundred feet, when he saw trauma team vehicle with its  
flashing lights. It was quicker than waiting for them to get  
to him.  
  
Ranma was out and over to the medics in record time, barely  
waiting for the canopy to open as he dashed Akane to them.  
He laid her carefully on the gurney. One of the medics  
grabbed his arm, trying to lead him away and check on him at  
the same time. "You look a bit banged up, kid."  
  
"I'm fine. I want to stay and watch."  
  
"Look, kid, you don't want to watch. Don't worry, she's in  
good hands. Now, where did you get those burns?"  
  
Ranma stared at the man stupidly for just a second. He  
checked himself out visually. "Ah, it must have been when  
the thing, robot or whatever it was, exploded." He touched  
it gingerly. It didn't hurt too bad. "Nothing to worry  
about."  
  
"Those burns look pretty serious. Can you take the tank top  
off?" Ranma nodded mutely, letting himself be distracted. He  
didn't notice what was happening, until the ambulance took  
off with a screech of burning rubber.  
  
"Hey! What are they doing with Akane?"  
  
"Taking her to surgery, I'd guess. Come one, I'll take you  
to the medical center. It's not too far away. We'll get you  
looked at too."  
  
-  
  
Ranma paced back and forth nervously. The doctors had been  
working on Akane for what seemed forever. Finally, a doctor  
walked over to talk to him. "Your Ranma? You'll be please to  
know that we're done." He flipped his chart to the next  
page. "She lost a lot of blood, but I think she'll be fine.  
She may need some... cosmetic surgery later. And some  
therapy to help out with her disability."  
  
"Disability? What's wrong?" Ranma almost shouted, getting in  
the doctors face. A couple of big orderlies started to move  
towards the young man.  
  
"She has quite a bit of laceration from shrapnel. I'm afraid  
that we couldn't save her eye."  
  
"What?" Ranma reached up and grabbed the doctor with one  
hand and lifted him off the floor. The two orderlies started  
to move a bit faster. The kid was stronger than he looked.  
  
"Look, please calm down. We managed to save her, that's what  
is important." The doctor started to sweat. Dealing with  
relatives was one of the unpleasant parts of this job.  
  
Indecision warred on Ranma's face. He let the doctor go.  
"Can I see her? Please?"  
  
"No, it's against... sure. Just for a little while." He was  
breaking regulations just allowing that.  
  
"Thanks."  
  
And with that he led Ranma to a small white room and  
admonished him to not touch anything. He then trotted out to  
his next patient. Ranma stood there for a second. It was a  
sterile white room with a single bed. A row of machines that  
appeared to be part of the wall monitored her every vital  
sign. Half of Akane's head was shrouded in bandages. She was  
lying still, with a breathing mask affixed to her. The only  
sound was her breathing through the machines. He looked  
around for a second and then scooted a chair closer to  
Akane. He reached out and carefully grasped her hand.  
  
"Akane. Damn. Why'd you have to go out and get yourself  
hurt, ya stupid tomboy? This was supposed to be a vacation.  
And... and I screwed it up big time. You weren't supposed to  
get hurt. I don't know what to do. I'm supposed to be the  
best there is. I just wasn't fast enough to save you this  
time. What sort of enemy just shoots a defenseless tomboy  
like you?" Ranma muttered low and softly. "Now you're gonna  
hate me for failing to protect you. And your dad is likely  
to kill me when he finds out." Ranma paused, thinking hard.  
"He'll at least break the engagement. And I don't want that.  
Not really. Not anymore."  
  
The lights flickered for a second and the PA blared out  
something about `folding' or something. Ranma tuned it out.  
It couldn't be important. Not now, anyways. "I don't know  
what to do. Just be all right, you dummy. I'll never forgive  
you," myself, "if you don't." Ranma sat there for a second.  
He punched himself in the head. "I'm such a dope. Your  
laying there and what do I do?" He paused, trying to get his  
thoughts in order. "Just, be all right, ok? That's what's  
important."  
  
Ranma sixth sense started to scream at him as every light  
went out. Time seemed to stretch impossibly and Ranma could  
feel his physical form change from the simple state he was  
in, to a higher energy state that only exists in esoteric  
mathematics normally. He couldn't move, couldn't see. It was  
as if he had been struck blind, deaf and become paralyzed in  
one instant.  
  
High above Macross Island, a sphere of energy expanded  
alarmingly. In a moments time it encompassed the entire  
island and the aircraft carriers near it. Once it reached  
it's maximum size the sphere seemed to implode.  
  
Seagulls that had been whirling above the waves were shaken  
in the air from all the displaced air. Of Macross Island,  
not a bit of it was left above the waves.  
  
-  
  
Ranma blinked in the sudden darkness, lit only by the gauges  
and readouts of the medical equipment. The rasp of the  
breathing apparatus was suddenly, shockingly loud. It was  
deathly quiet as panic started to rise up in Ranma. What was  
going on?  
  
The silence was shaken by a sudden alarm. Blaring over the  
speakers, a woman's voice could be clearly heard warning  
everyone to brace for impact. The sudden jarring crash  
reverberated through out the entire ship. Ranma watched  
Akane where she lay in the bed. She seemed to be all right.  
  
But maybe he should just go get a nurse for sure. He was  
almost at the door when a harried looking woman entered the  
room at a trot. He managed to sidestep her at the last  
moment. He opened his mouth ask her a question, but snapped  
it shut as she checked Akane's wounds to see if they had  
started bleeding again.  
  
The doctor looked over at the young man near the door.  
"She'll be ok. Look, you're not supposed to be in here right  
now. You'll have to go to the lobby."  
  
"But..."  
  
"I'm really sorry, but what she really needs is  
uninterrupted rest. When she's out of ICU, you can visit."  
  
Ranma sighed and trotted back to the waiting room. He sat  
back down.  
  
-  
  
The next few days had passed in a whirlwind. The Macross  
refuges were transported to the SDF-1. Housing was quickly  
made to support the thousands of now homeless people. But  
the impossible now seemed doable. Shelter and homes were  
being made. Everyone pitched in to help. Including a certain  
pig-tailed martial artist. He was told that today was the  
day that Akane would be moved from intensive care. He put in  
his work to help out with the refugees with impatience.  
After that he took off as fast as he could go to visit her.  
He walked rapidly to the front desk. Ranma waited  
impatiently for the man in front of him to finish his  
business.  
  
"Akane Tendo? She's in room 241."  
  
Ranma's ears perked up.  
  
"That's good to hear. I'll feel a lot better knowing that  
she's going to be all right," the man in the RDF uniform  
said. The voice sounded familiar, somehow.  
  
Ranma finally remembered where he had heard that voice.  
"Say, your that pilot that rescued us, aren't you?"  
  
Adam Victor looked over in surprise. Yup, that was one of  
the kids that he had rescued. "Guilty as charged. Your  
Ranma, aren't you?"  
  
"Uh, yeah."  
  
"My names Adam Victor. Call me Adam." He was a short man  
(just shorter than Ranma) with the wild and unruly hair so  
uncommon in pilots these days. Under his brown bang, dark  
eyes seemed to barely contain his humor.  
  
"Um, sure. You're here to visit Akane, Adam?"  
  
"Well, I'm a morbid sort of person that enjoys seeing people  
in pain. The hospital is a normal place too see me when I'm  
off duty. This is a pretty good excuse to be here," Adam  
said with a perfectly straight face.  
  
Ranma blinked. "W-what?"  
  
Adam started laughing suddenly. He clapped his hand on  
Ranma's shoulder and directed them to the elevator. "I see  
you going to be fun to be around, Ranma. Lighten up. It was  
a joke."  
  
"Ah. I knew that!"  
  
"Oh, sure. I'm sure you weren't thinking of four ways to  
beat me up."  
  
Ranma started to stammer out, "I, I wasn't doing that!  
Really!" He managed to calm himself down for a second. "It  
was ten ways," Ranma muttered quietly, but not quietly  
enough.  
  
They both entered the elevator. In just a moment they both  
stepped out and were searching the halls for Akane's room.  
"You know, I don't know if I should be worried or not? You  
need to relax kid."  
  
Ranma started to laugh weakly. "Uh, yeah." He looked over at  
room number. A look of sadness crept over his face.  
  
"Hey, why such a long face?"  
  
"I, uh, just feel so helpless. I'm used to protecting her  
from danger. But how do I protect her from a war?"  
  
"It's not easy. You have to be willing to sacrifice a lot.  
Willing to put your life in danger for others and be willing  
to take orders."  
  
Ranma snapped his head around. "What are you talking about?"  
  
"What do you think my job is, Ranma?"  
  
Understanding dawned on Ranma. "I'm just a kid. They'll  
never let me in."  
  
"I was a year younger than you when I went through basic. It  
was rough, but my country really needed pilots during the  
Global War. They were willing to ignore my age and give me a  
chance." Adam looked Ranma directly, eye to eye. "I've never  
once regretted it."  
  
A lie, but they had more mecha than pilots right now. Adam  
had done a generic background check on the two kids he'd  
rescued. Ranma Saotome was listed as being a phenomenal  
martial artist. If he could get the basics of flying down  
pat, he could make a fine fighter pilot. His CO had asked  
him to sound Ranma out if he had the chance.  
  
"I'm... I'll think about it, ok?"  
  
"You've got the time. The SDF-1 isn't going to be able to  
fold back to Earth. It's going to be pretty close to a year  
for us to go back the hard way. And that fleet of alien  
spacecrafts is still out there."  
  
Ranma ducked his head and opened the door. He took in a deep  
breath and girded himself mentally. Quietly, he glided  
across the floor, as quiet as outer space.  
  
She looked so peaceful. The only thing that clashed against  
the peacefulness of the setting was the bandage covering the  
left side of her face.  
  
Ranma might have been quiet, but Adam wasn't. Akane opened  
her eyes, expecting to see another nurse. She blinked in  
surprise. Her mouth curved into a small smile. "Ranma?" Her  
eye flickered momentarily to the other man, the one in a  
uniform.  
  
"Uh, hey Akane. How ya doing?" Ranma worked hard to keep the  
worry he felt out of his voice. He couldn't keep his gaze on  
her for very long. It hurt too much.  
  
"I'm in a hospital. What do you think," she snapped at him.  
She softened when she saw the hurt look on his face. "Sorry.  
It's the drugs... and I don't like hospitals."  
  
"Ah, don't worry. You'll be up and about in no time. You're  
healthier than an ox, you know. Oh, this is Adam Victor.  
He's the pilot that rescued us from that fire fight."  
  
Akane stared at Ranma for a second. Ranma admitting that  
someone had to rescue him? She turned a little bit and said,  
"Thank you."  
  
"It's all in a days work for the RDF."  
  
Akane smiled, causing herself to wince. A nurse walked in,  
rolling a cart. "It looks like you have visitors.  
Boyfriends?" Jennifer asked, smiling at the young girl.  
  
"I'm not her boyfriend!" Ranma blurted out. "It was our  
dad's idea, not ours!" Old reflexive habit kicked in.  
  
Akane just stared at Ranma. That small smile crept on her  
face again. Ranma missed it as he was focused on the other  
two people in the room. The smile fell, when she noticed  
that Ranma was avoiding looking at her. Everywhere, everyone  
but her. Her quiet fears started to make themselves known  
again. Her fears that had filled the long hazy times while  
she convalesced. Ugly, unwanted, abandoned. She tried to  
push them back, but it seemed far harder than it had before.  
  
"Your dad's? What, are you two engaged?" Adam asked.  
  
Ranma swallowed and then answered, "Yeah." Ranma tittered  
nervously, scratching at his pig-tail.  
  
"My, what a handsome young man you've bagged there, Akane."  
The nurse helped Akane swallow some pills and then a swig of  
some water. Akane focused on that, not on Ranma being there  
but looking away from her. The nurse turned back to the two  
men. "Now, I don't want you two wearing her out. Stay just  
for a minute or so longer and then off you go."  
  
"Um, get better, ok? I'll try to stop by tomorrow." Ranma  
couldn't meet her gaze. She must hate him for ruining her.  
Why couldn't he have been faster? Now he'd lost the only  
important thing to him.  
  
"Goodbye, Ranma." Tears welled up and started falling down  
her cheeks as Ranma walked out with the pilot. It really was  
goodbye, wasn't it?  
  
-  
  
Ranma sagged up against the wall outside of the hospital.  
Akane deserved someone who could protect her. A guy who  
wouldn't argue and yell at her like he did. Somebody who  
wasn't a creep. Ranma stopped and went over that point  
again. That's all he really was, wasn't it? Just a no good  
freeloading jerk, who strung along three girls. He really  
was the womanizer that Ryoga and Kuno said he was.  
  
He wondered why he hadn't seen that in the past. Probably  
because he was too busy being a jerk. He had to have his  
eyes opened by this sort of thing happening because of him.  
  
"Hey, snap out of it, kid. This isn't doing you any good. It  
isn't doing her any good, too." Adam just wanted to slap  
some sense into the kid. Moping about wasn't going to help.  
"Do you want to make sure she's safe? That she won't be hurt  
again?"  
  
The pilot's words brought Ranma out of his thoughts. For one  
of the first times, Ranma tried to seriously consider what  
he was saying. Join the RDF and keep Akane safe from the  
aliens that had done this to her. Maybe he couldn't have  
helped her in the past, because he was a jerk. But that  
didn't mean he couldn't change. "That's all I have to do,  
say the word and I'm in?" Fiery determination welled up  
within him.  
  
"That's it. Just say the word and we'll go and fill out the  
paperwork and get you processed." Adam met Ranma's gaze, eye  
to eye.  
  
"I'll do it. For Akane, I..." I'd do anything, Ranma thought  
silently.  
  
-  
  
Ranma sat at a dented metal table, filling out paperwork. He  
had already filled out the parts where it had asked him what  
his job skills were (almost none except for martial arts)  
and what he wanted to do. From what Adam had said, it was  
the pilots who would be doing the larger part of keeping the  
SDF-1 safe. Flying out to handle patrols and engaging the  
enemy before they could get near the SDF-1.  
  
Ranma was pretty sure he'd get stuck in some support role,  
probably helping out someone haul stuff around. He was no  
pilot.  
  
He paused, looking over one of the questions in the medical  
questionnaire. `Do you have any medical problems which could  
impede your ability to do a vigorous physical detail?' Ranma  
looked at it for a moment. He still had his curse. Would  
that qualify? It was still so embarrassing. He didn't want  
to tell them about it. But how was he going to hide it?  
  
There he was going again. Being the jerk, caring more about  
himself than... Akane. Ranma angrily filled out the  
question, putting the relevant information about the curse  
in. As an afterthought, he put in his ailurophobia. He  
signed it and then stood up, picking the papers up at the  
same time. He walked over to Adam and the recruiter. "Here  
you go. Now what?"  
  
"We get you a physical and take you over to the training  
center. Welcome to the RDF, Mr. Saotome."  
  
-  
  
The next couple of weeks blurred by for the two teenagers.  
Akane's condition improved daily. With a bit of professional  
help, she started to adjust being handicapped. The loss of  
depth vision was quite disconcerting. What had once been a  
simple thing, became a nightmare of guesswork. She had to  
adjust to bumping into things. And knocking things over.  
There were times that she just wanted to cry. Her counselor  
was working over time to repair her fragile ego.  
  
One of her highlights was Adam's visits. He'd drop by every  
few days to try and cheer her up. And she had really needed  
it, after the first week. One week without Ranma even  
showing up to say 'hi'. Adam had given her a smile and asked  
her to trust Ranma.  
  
Ranma had been bored. They had been pushing everyone as hard  
as they could during training. But for Ranma, this was  
relaxing. He started his own training regime. When he got  
the chance, he would run three times as far and do at least  
twice as much lifting or weight training as anyone else.  
When it came time for self defense training, he would use  
only one hand or foot to attack or defend, in an effort to  
push himself a little. He still felt that his keen edge was  
starting to slide a bit.  
  
He did miss his pony tail. Non-regulation, they said.  
  
Ranma whistled tunelessly as his group trotted back to the  
barracks. The rest of the guys groaned as they bounced off  
of their beds. Ranma just snickered. They had only run ten  
miles today. You'd think they were dying by the way they  
were acting. With a snort, he stripped off his clothes as  
the drill sergeant yelled at everyone to get cleaned up for  
inspection in ten minutes. Even with his head start, he was  
only a moment in front of the next guy into the shower.  
Ranma turned on the hot water tap full. He'd adjust the  
temperature down in just a moment.  
  
A very feminine shriek of consternation split the air. Ranma  
fiddled with the shower controls, desperately trying to get  
the hot water to turn on. The three guys in the shower with  
her just stared, mouths open in shock.  
  
"What's the racket in here? What, you little girly boys  
can't handle a bit of cold water?" roared out Sergeant  
Thomas. The hot water heater breaks down, inconveniently,  
and the men become pansies. It wasn't like that when he was  
in the U.S. Marine Corp. He stopped when he saw the fact  
that it really was a young women who had made the noise.  
"Who the %#@& are you, and what the %#@& are you doing in  
here?" This was an all men's barracks!  
  
Ranma snapped to attention with the rest of the men. She  
opened her mouth to reply, then shut it. Finally she  
answered, "Private Ranma Saotome. Just taking my shower,  
Sir!"  
  
"That's pretty damn humorous. Except for the fact that  
Saotome is a guy and you got teats bigger than a battleship.  
Saotome, front and center right now!" he yelled back into  
the bunk room.  
  
Ranma considered that for just a second. Well, she was  
already `front and center' so it shouldn't make a  
difference. She stood her ground and kept herself at  
attention. She was acutely aware that being at attention  
like this forced her feminine assets to jut out even more so  
than normal.  
  
"Dawson, Leisu. Go get Mr. Saotome." The sergeant's face was  
starting to turn an interesting shade of red. This little  
snit wasn't going to make a fool of him.  
  
Leisu took off looking for Ranma. Dawson didn't, as he'd  
been one of the three men who had been in the showers from  
before. "Excuse me, Sir! She was Ranma, Sir!" he piped up.  
He didn't know how it had happened, but he knew what he had  
seen.  
  
Thomas got in the recruits face. "Repeat that, Dawson."  
  
"Yes, Sir! The girl was Ranma, Sir! He got wet and then he  
turned into a girl, Sir!"  
  
"Satome." Sergeant Thomas gave Ranma a look that promised  
some sort of dire repercussions. "Explain. Now!"  
  
Ranma blinked. Oh, boy. "I have a Chinese curse, Sir! It  
turns me into a girl when I get wet with cold water, Sir!  
Hot water turns me back, Sir!" Her voice contrasted horribly  
with the deeper voices around her.  
  
"Dawson. Go get my cup of coffee, on the double." Thomas  
waited for the hot cup. Private Dawson came back with the  
cup, mostly unspilled. Sergeant Thomas then splashed the  
coffee into the red-head's face. Once she got scalded and  
didn't turn into a guy, he'd start to get to the bottom of  
this.  
  
He blinked once in surprise when Ranma shifted back to his  
birth gender.  
  
Sonofabitch, they were telling the truth. He hadn't seen  
magic since he had been to Lao ten years ago. Damn gaki.  
"Very well. Continue on." He turned on his heel and walked  
out of the showers. He glanced at his watch. "Inspection is  
in five minutes! Don't be late!"  
  
Five minutes later, they were all standing at the ends of  
their beds. Ranma was back in girl form after cleaning up.  
None of her clothes fit and it looked horrible. Most of the  
rest of the unit was barely presentable, due to their  
limited time getting ready. They shot angry glances at  
Ranma's back when she and the sergeant weren't looking.  
  
Sergeant Thomas walked up and down the line, berating every  
single little fault. Only two men in the entire room weren't  
found to be below par. Thomas snapped around, yelling out,  
"Attention!" He let his gaze drift down the row. "There is  
no excuse for not looking proper. Everyone drop and give me  
fifty."  
  
He walked up and down the lines, yelling at anyone who  
didn't do them properly. He watched for a second as Ranma  
did her pushups with one hand, on her finger tips. Finding  
nothing wrong, he said nothing in turn. If his `men' wanted  
to do them by harder means, that was fine with him.  
  
"Fall out. Go get some mess and don't let me catch you in  
any sort of trouble until morning."  
  
-  
  
Ranma snored lightly as she laid out on the top bunk. Ranma  
had won the right for the top bunk when he had been  
challenged for it in an arm wrestling contest. Not that he  
had cared at the time. But the other guy had said it was the  
way these things were handled.  
  
Dark shadows crept around her. Two figures grabbed the  
blanket and attempted to pull the blanket over her head,  
trying to trap her. Adroitly, her elbow came up and snagged  
the blanket, holding it next to her body. They tried again,  
but were again blocked.  
  
Ranma snorted and turned on her side, still asleep. They  
tried once more, but were blocked for a third time. The rest  
of the soldiers gave up what little patience and swung  
wrapped fists at her.  
  
Ranma awoke with start as one bludgeon managed to strike her  
as she dodged unconsciously. A quick glance noted the  
figures surrounding her, just before the blanket was pulled  
over her head. The figures continued to pound away, only  
stopping when they realized that their target wasn't under  
the blanket.  
  
"What the hell? Where'd he go?" one of the shadows said  
quietly.  
  
A flashlight flicked on, illuminating her bed. The blanket  
was draped over a hole in the bed. "How'd he do that?" one  
of the guys spoke up, just before the light was put out. The  
tinkling of broken glass was heard quite distinctly.  
  
A sudden symphony of grunts and thuds was the only answer  
Ranma deemed necessary.  
  
Sergeant Thomas grunted in annoyance. He had a suspicion  
that something like this was going to happen. The military  
didn't like nails that stuck up and screamed to be hammered  
down. He'd thought they were going to be quieter about it,  
though. Time to break it up before Saotome got hurt. "All  
right! Knock it off," he roared out loudly as he snapped on  
the lights. "Attention!"  
  
Ranma yawned and stretched out. She looked around at the  
scattered figures on the ground and nearby beds. She then  
snapped to attention.  
  
Sergeant Thomas walked up to the scene. He looked around at  
the dozen or so young men that were lying strewn around the  
barracks and beds, the single young women who was standing  
in the middle of it. It was quite obvious who was the winner  
of this fight. He looked her right in the eye. "They jumped  
you, I take it?"  
  
Ranma nodded slowly. "I guess so. I'm not sure. I wasn't  
really awake." She yawned. "Can I go back to bed?"  
  
"Don't you want to press charges?"  
  
"Huh? Why? It was pretty good training. I've actually got a  
bruise or two."  
  
"Never mind. I'll ask you again in the morning." The sad  
thing is, Saotome probably meant it, he thought to himself  
as he walked off.  
  
-  
  
Morning arrived and Ranma hadn't changed his opinion. He  
actually thought it was moderately funny. He was billed for  
destroying his bed, though. A military lawyer was called up  
to see if there was any reason to expel Ranma from the  
military. After going through the records and pertaining  
laws, he finally decided there really wasn't any reason or  
precedence. Magical curses weren't really covered under any  
regulation on the books. And since Ranma had put it on his  
application in triplicate, it was deemed that he hadn't been  
trying to hide it.  
  
It wasn't his fault if they hadn't taken him seriously about  
what he had put on his application. Unfortunately, they were  
now. Now he had to go and see a military psychologist.  
  
Damn Cat Fist training.  
  
-  
  
Akane shifted her carry bag of items in her lap nervously.  
Her doctor had decided that she needed to get out of the  
hospital to continue her recovery. So here she was, sitting  
in a wheel chair, while waiting for her uncle in the lobby  
of the hospital. She'd been pleasantly surprised that he had  
contacted her, the day after Ranma had dropped by with Adam.  
It had been nice to learn that he was fine.  
  
Her hand drifted up to her bandages, touching them lightly.  
Over two weeks and still Ranma hadn't shown up to see her.  
She was beginning to lose hope. She was sure that he didn't  
want to be held back by an ugly girl that couldn't even  
avoid being hurt.  
  
"Akane! How is my little niece?" Hyaki asked the moody girl  
in her native tongue.  
  
Akane jerked back to reality. A smile broke her lips. It had  
been a long time since she'd heard someone speaking in  
Japanese. "Uncle Hyaki! You came!"  
  
"Of course! Are you ready?"  
  
Akane nodded. The nurse started to gently push her out to  
the curb. A car sat quietly, waiting for them to board.  
Hyaki opened the door and was about to help her into the car  
when Akane saw a figure dashing down the road. That red hair  
was very distinctive.  
  
"Ranma?" Akane called out in a quavering voice.  
  
Ranma slowed to a halt, looking at Akane standing up from a  
wheel chair. "Uh, hey Akane!" Ranma finally noted Akane's  
uncle. "Hello, Mr. Tendo! It's been a while." It sounded odd  
to be referring to him that way, but that was his name. The  
nurse rolled the wheel chair away.  
  
Hyaki looked over the young women carefully. She did look  
quite a bit like Ranma, he would have said she was his  
sister. Confusion covered his face as he tried to determine  
what was going on.  
  
"Ah, Akane. I heard you were getting out today. So I managed  
to get out to come see you."  
  
"Get out? What do you..." It suddenly dawned on Akane that  
Ranma was wearing a military uniform. Her eyes narrowed in  
sudden thought. What was going on here?  
  
"I, uh, kind of joined up with the RDF."  
  
Akane just stared, her smile slipping. Ranma wasn't going to  
be coming with her. "Why?!" she blurted out angrily. Was he  
leaving her? But he showed up. That had to mean he still  
cared, right?  
  
Ranma snapped back a step, then her face got an angrily  
determined look on it as she stepped back up. "I got  
reasons, dummy!"  
  
"What? Why you jerk! Fine! See if I care. Leave for all I  
care!"  
  
"Huh? Why, you dumb ass, uncute tomboy! I had to get special  
permission to get off base to came all this way to see you,"  
Ranma yelled right back. "Fine, I'll leave!" She turned and  
started to stomp away.  
  
Akane only heard everything before 'uncute tomboy,' all else  
was lost in a haze of red. Her pupil dilated as her breath  
came to her in short gasps. "RANMA!" she cried out, charging  
forward at the smaller girl.  
  
Ranma had just a moments warning, as a huge battle aura  
illuminated the area from behind her. Ranma froze when she  
saw the expression of righteous anger on Akane's face.  
  
Hyaki Tendo watched in amazement as Akane literally kicked  
the red haired girl hundreds of feet up and over the  
surrounding buildings, all the while glowing a vivid red  
color. He took a step back as she kneeled down and smashed  
her right hand into the pavement, shattering it into gravel  
sized chunks.  
  
Slowly, she curled up and started to cry. Hyaki waited a few  
seconds and then put his hand on her shoulder. Akane turned  
toward him and grabbed him in a bone crushing hug.  
  
"Come on, let's get you home. You can tell me all about it  
later." He got her moving and into the electric car that he  
had borrowed to get her home.  
  
Akane smiled wanly and replied, "Sure. Thank you , Uncle  
Hyaki." The smiled didn't touch her eyes.  
  
-  
  
Ranma picked herself up out of the crater she had made.  
"Ite. She still kicks like a mule. Hope she feels better.  
Looked like she was really angry, though. It's not like I  
did anything different." She was interrupted from her  
ruminations by the screech of tires coming to an abrupt  
halt.  
  
Two MP's hopped out of the military transport and looked  
around. After checking to see that nothing else in this area  
was unusual, one walked up to her. "Say, miss. You didn't  
happen to see what caused his damage did you?" he asked,  
pointing at the broken concrete. They had gotten alerted to  
the sound of some sort of crash or explosion in the area.  
Obviously, something had happened.  
  
Ranma looked down. A nervous smile appeared magically on her  
face. "Uh, tee hee. Um, me?"  
  
The other MP tipped his helmet back. "What do you mean,  
you?" What was she doing, playing with explosives? She  
looked pretty beat up.  
  
"Um, Akane kicked me really hard. Kind of broke up the  
ground when I landed here."  
  
"So this Akane kicked you so hard that you made a crater  
when you landed here." The two guys looked at each other  
with expressions of incredulity.  
  
"That's about it. Huh, back on base? Wow, she hits harder  
than I remember." Ranma started to pop and crack joints back  
into position. With a shrug, she stretched and then leaped  
to the roof of the nearest building. She still had a few  
minutes to get over to Dr. Jenkins office for her next  
visit.  
  
-  
  
"So, Exedore. What have you discovered?" Breetai asked in  
his booming voice. Light glittered across his metallic eye  
prosthesis.  
  
"Some very intriguing things, Commander Breetai." He  
manipulated the hand controls on his seat, bringing to  
existence the mid air view screen. Pictures of battlepods in  
combat while flying and on land appeared against unknown  
mecha, images cycling periodically. Suddenly the view  
stopped, an obvious freeze frame.  
  
"Micronians!" Breetai exclaimed.  
  
"Correct. I have been going into the research of our oldest  
histories, trying to ascertain who this is going to impact  
our mission. I have managed to find nothing concrete, but  
warning to have no contact with micronians, stated in the  
strictest words by the oldest records."  
  
"What!? Are you actually thinking that these micronians  
managed to capture Zor's ship? Impossible!"  
  
Exedore blinked his large eyes. "I, too, find this hard to  
swallow. Zor's fortress was one of the most powerful ships  
ever designed. With the radically altered outer shell of his  
fortress, I would say that something unusual has happened to  
it. Perhaps it crashed here and these people fixed it."  
  
Breetai growled. "Intriguing, but not likely. What do you  
advise?"  
  
"Extreme caution. Obviously we are not dealing a normal  
situation. I went over the records of the battle quite  
thoroughly. I managed to find one thing that may have given  
rise to these warnings." Exedore manipulated the controls  
for a moment. The image shifted to another view of the  
archaiclly designed city. Squares highlighted an area of the  
screen, zooming in to a view of a battlepod towering over  
two micronians, one kneeling and the other lying on the  
ground, obviously hurt.  
  
"Hmm? What is this, Exedore?" This didn't look any different  
than any of the other scenes showing the micronians being  
crushed under Zentraedi mecha.  
  
Exedore answered by depressing a small switch, setting the  
scene in motion. The battlepod slowly swung its lower guns  
into position. The kneeling figure that was holding the  
downed micronian suddenly started to glow, tendrils of  
energy floating off of him. The battlepod took an  
involuntary half step backwards, showing the shock of the  
pilot through the reflex technology interface.  
  
Breetai could see the micronian raise its hands, palms open.  
A beam of energy erupted from its outstretched hands,  
striking the battlepod squarely. It exploded, covering the  
area in smoke and debris. The view jerked suddenly,  
unzooming back to the normal size that it started at, as the  
pilot of the recon battle pod took evasive maneuvers to  
avoid being destroyed from another quarter. Exedore  
deactivated the screen.  
  
"My lord, it is apparent that these micronians have  
developed some sort of power, possibly related to  
protoculture. This makes them extremely dangerous, showing  
some of the wisdom for the ancient decrees against  
interacting with micronians."  
  
"We have to recover the fortress!"  
  
"Yes, my lord. But perhaps we should treat this situation  
with extreme caution. Any creature that can destroy a  
battlepod with out weapons is a threat to be wary of. What  
other unknown abilities does this race possess?"  
  
"Hmm. True. Very well. We shall adopt a wait and see  
posture. Find the fortress for me, Exedore."  
  
-  
  
"Class, I'd like to welcome a new student. Her name is..."  
the teacher was abruptly cut off by a startled exclamation.  
  
"Akane Tendo? What are you doing here, you harridan?" a  
cultured feminine voice screeched out.  
  
Akane snapped her view towards the back of the room, towards  
the outcry. "Kodachi Kuno!"  
  
"Ah hem!" The teacher pinned the two with a curt glare. "You  
may reacquaint yourselves later. Miss Tendo, if you'll take  
your place, we can start class." She flipped open her  
textbook to a page, standing to get the students attention.  
  
Akane looked around for a moment, trying to spot an open  
seat far away from Kodachi. For some reason, there were  
none. She sighed lightly and headed towards the open seat  
farthest from Kodachi.  
  
Kodachi on the other hand was watching her new classmate  
with interest. Akane was not walking with what little grace  
that god had given her, each step stiff and uncertain. The  
bandages covering her left eye and most of the left side of  
her face. A small frown creased her brow and mouth. It looks  
like she had been injured. Something she was sure of that  
Ranma would never allow.  
  
Akane fidgeted in her seat, aware of the scrutiny. She  
opened her book and tried to ignore the blatant stare that  
she was receiving. She was so focused on listening to the  
teacher, that she almost jumped out of her chair in surprise  
when a small ball of paper landed on her book. Akane snapped  
a look over at Kodachi. With quick curt movements, she  
opened the piece of paper, reading the message inside.  
  
`Where is my most beauteous and marvelous Ranma?"  
  
A pang of fear and worry crossed her face. She wasn't sure  
what to do. She avoided looking at or responding to Kodachi  
for the rest of the morning.  
  
Finally, the bell tolled for lunch. The students strolled  
out, chatting amiably. Akane was almost to the door, when a  
arm was thrust in her way, surprising her.  
  
"Akane Tendo. I do not appreciate being ignored. Trifle not  
with the Black Rose of... Tell me where my darling Ranma is  
and I will not be forced to hurt you." Kodachi smirked at  
the girl's discomfort.  
  
"I don't know where Ranma is," technically true, "so why  
don't you go bother someone else?" Akane held herself  
stiffly, meeting Kodachi's gaze levelly. A thought occurred  
to her. "How did you come to be here?"  
  
Kodachi flipped her long, lustrous black hair over her  
shoulder. She looked startling different, for this school  
didn't require a dress code. The eccentric girl had added  
her distinctive flair to her outfit, putting herself in an  
almost immodestly tight indigo dress. The only reason that  
the outfit was quite so scandalous was the black body  
stocking that she wore under it. "I see that you have still  
not learned to speak to your betters properly. I should see  
about retraining to hold the proper respect for my station.  
As for your question, I was representing Kuno Conglomerated  
limited at the festivities." She neglected to tell her that  
she had been sent here with her boorish brother.  
  
She took a dramatic pose, legs spread wider than her  
shoulder, her body angled sideways in relation to Akane. She  
stabbed an accusatory finger at her enemy. "Enough of that!  
Where is my Ranma?"  
  
Akane simmered, trying vainly not to lose her temper. "He's  
not your Ranma! And I already told you! I DON'T KNOW," Akane  
yelled out. She fell into an easy defensive stance.  
  
In the background, several girls and one boy looked on in  
interest. The talked among each other, commenting on the  
scene.  
  
"Huh, who's this Ranma guy that Kodachi is so worried  
about?"  
  
"I don't know. But that girl is looking for a world of hurt.  
Kodachi is looking to hurt her pretty quick."  
  
"Yeah, I feel sorry for her. She's kind of cute, in a butch  
sort of way."  
  
"Lisa! I swear you get worse and worse!"  
  
Their attention was dragged back to the duo, as Kodachi  
snapped a ribbon at Akane, causing her to sidestep and swing  
at the slightly taller girl. Kodachi flipped into the air,  
trying to gain more distance. She twisted desperately as she  
landed, barely avoiding a reverse crescent kick that caved  
in the desk she was planning on landing on.  
  
"So, I see that you have improved, Akane Tendo! But so have  
I!" Kodachi snapped her ribbon furiously. The ribbon turned  
into a blur, striking out faster and faster. "This is  
something that I adapter from my poor deranged brother!  
Multi ribbon attack!"  
  
Akane's eyes narrowed in concentration. She had seen Kuno,  
Tatewaki Kuno that is, do this often enough. Unbidden to her  
minds eye, an image of Ranma weaving and ducking, even  
avoiding strikes that were not going to strike him directly.  
  
"Oh ho ho ho ho ho ho ho ho! Hummm?" What? She's avoiding  
the attack as if was nothing! How?  
  
The small crowd blinked in surprise at the same time. Nobody  
had ever given Kodachi this sort of problem in the past.  
Heck, they'd never seen her work this hard before! They  
`oohed' in surprise when two desks behind Akane started to  
fall into small pieces. "She's not even striking the desk!  
How's she cutting it with a ribbon that isn't even hitting?"  
  
Akane suddenly dashed forward, getting within Kodachi's  
weapon's reach. "Get lost, you psycho!" Akane yelled, as she  
struck out in a classic kempo punch kata. On the last blow,  
Akane added just a little bit of oomph. Kodachi flew across  
the room and landed in a heap.  
  
"Hmph. Serves her right." Akane turned and limped out of the  
room.  
  
The remaining students gaped in wonderment. Kodachi had been  
the terror of the school ever since she had been forced to  
come to Macross High School as a senior. She had seemed to  
take personal offense at the school and the students and  
tormented them mercilessly.  
  
-  
  
Shampoo walked down the road. She had finally managed to  
change back into a human and procure some clothes. Her  
status was of questionable legality, as she wasn't supposed  
to have been on Macross Island. She and Ryoga had both  
survived, by being the `pets' of a young girl who had  
evacuated into one of the shelters. She had finally escaped  
that fate, which led her to where she was now.  
  
She sighed deeply. She missed her great grandmother. She  
missed Ranma. She even missed Mousse. She'd never admit it,  
but it had been very nice to have him around, boosting her  
ego, when Ranma was ignoring her. Now she was as far away as  
she could be from everything important to her. Her gaze was  
dragged to pretty girl in a Chinese dress, waving an  
advertisement and trying to attract attention.  
  
Shampoo blinked in surprise. Should she? Perhaps she could  
ask to work for room and board? "Nia ho! Shampoo wonder if  
you looking for help to work?" Her English was even worse  
than her Japanese. She hated it.  
  
"Why hello! I don't know. I'd have to ask my aunt. Do you  
have any experience working in a restaurant?" Minmei asked.  
  
"Shampoo work in Cat Caf‚! Very good at attracting business!  
Boys like to watch too too pretty girl serve food in pretty  
dress!"  
  
Minmei smiled and laughed. "Why, I'm sure that we can find  
some work. My name is Minmei! Welcome to the White Dragon!"  
  
  



	2. Zero Adaption

Ride of the Valkyries, Part 2  
  
Ryoga continued to walk, his footsteps slow and unsure. Why  
was it taking him so long to walk back to Nerima? His sense  
of direction couldn't be so bad that he couldn't find his  
way off of the huge spaceship, was it? All around him, metal  
walls and conduits were the only things that he could see.  
  
Ryoga licked his dry lips. Water was a lot harder to find,  
but it was also easier to avoid. The lost boy blinked in  
surprise at seeing the little shattered plane again. It was  
draped with a parachute, but no light was visible.  
  
Maybe... maybe they'd found some way out? Rick and... what's  
her name. Minmei. "Hello?" Ryoga called out. He walked over  
to the plane and checked to see if he could see anybody  
else. Huh? What'd happened to the little camp?  
  
"Hey, Ryoga! Good to see you again," Rick Hunter piped up,  
trying to put on a cheerful face.  
  
"Rick-sama! You found a way out!" Ryoga cried out, hugging  
the surprised boy.  
  
"Uh, yeah." Rick was baffled. He couldn't still be lost,  
could he? They'd move his little flyer down here near the  
hangers, from the section underneath Macross City over a  
week ago. I wonder if he realizes that the SDF-1 is out in  
space? "Do you need some help finding your way back to  
Macross City?"  
  
"Could you? Say, what were you doing here, any ways?" Ryoga  
asked.  
  
Rick looked at the poor little jaunty plane. "Just saying  
goodbye."  
  
Ryoga just looked at the younger boy oddly. How do you say  
goodbye to a piece of metal?  
  
-  
  
Rick glanced back to make sure that Ryoga was still  
following him. With a shrug he opened the door for Ryoga.  
  
"Hello! Shampoo very happy to greet new customer!" Shampoo  
chirped as she turned around. "Oh, just you, Rick. Aiyah! Is  
Ryoga, lost-boy! Where you run off, Lost Boy? Shampoo not  
finished with you! You make Shampoo lost in space!"  
  
Ryoga held up his hands defensively. "I didn't mean to!  
Besides, you were the one who started fighting!"  
  
"Stupid Lost Boy splash Shampoo, of course Shampoo fight!"  
Shampoo's eyes twitched as she flung three orders agilely to  
a table, without spilling a drop of the Raman. Customers  
taken care of for a moment, she held up her fists, turned  
sideways in preparation for a leap kick.  
  
Minmei blinked in surprise. "Who's this, Shampoo?"  
  
"This Hibiki Ryoga! Very strong warrior, almost as strong as  
husband!" Shampoo stated, her gaze never wavering.  
  
"Oh? From Tokyo?" the young girl asked.  
  
Shampoo nodded.  
  
"Say, Shampoo, could you wait to beat on me until after I  
get some food?" Ryoga asked. Not to mention how thirsty he  
was. He could drink an ocean.  
  
"Shampoo let you get strength so you good fight!" And  
truthfully, she really didn't want to fight the premiere  
runner-up martial artist. She'd almost let her bravado get  
the best of herself.  
  
Soon, Ryoga was sitting and slurping up noodles and eating  
rice at a very fast pace. Life couldn't be much better  
without being able to get home.  
  
-  
  
Akane looked at herself in the mirror. The stiffness had  
finally left her limbs. She was scheduled for some cosmetic  
surgery, to help with some of the scars. Her hand drifted up  
to touch her ruined eye. With sudden hurried motion, she put  
the plain black leather patch on, hiding the missing organ.  
  
What would he think of her changed appearance? Her doctor  
had said that she would soon be able to have a glass eye and  
learn to use it so that people would have a hard time  
telling that she was missing the eye. She bit her lip in  
sudden anxiety. Would Ranma want a broken fiancee?  
  
She'd let Victor talk her and Ranma into getting together  
and getting a chance to talk. And so here she was, as  
nervous as a schoolgirl going on her first date.  
  
"Akane? Ranma's here!" her uncle Hyaki called out. The older  
portly man just chuckled as he watched his niece fret with  
her hair in the bathroom, trying to hide her patch as much  
as possible. She looked every inch the young woman her  
mother had been.  
  
Ranma flinched at the older man's words. He'd been expecting  
the worst, ever since Captain Adam Victor had bamboozled him  
into coming here and taking Akane out. His nerves had been  
stretched as taut as piano wire ever since. He was wearing  
his uniform today, something that had become almost second  
nature. He turned towards the sound of light footsteps  
coming down the hallway.  
  
Ranma blinked in surprise. Other than the patch, Akane  
looked remarkably normal. She was wearing a cute little blue  
sundress. Something about her appearance seemed slightly  
off, but Ranma couldn't quite tell what it was. "Uh, hi  
Akane."  
  
"Hello, Ranma." Akane nearly choked on her nerves. Ranma  
looked so serious in his uniform. Was this his way of saying  
goodbye?  
  
Hyaki just smiled at the two nervous teens. "They make a  
pretty good pair, don't you think, Francis?"  
  
Francis Shoemaker, Hyaki's long time roommate, nodded. "Ze  
make a good match, very true." He was a gregarious middle-  
aged Frenchman, with a twinkle in his eye as if he new some  
joke that he was just waiting to tell you.  
  
"I don't want to see you two for at least two hours. Ranma,  
you treat my niece nicely now, understand?" Hyaki stated  
emphatically, giving Ranma a very serious look.  
  
"Uh, yeah! Of course!" Ranma nodded his head frantically.  
  
"Come on, Ranma! You can practice your dad's crouching tiger  
move later," Akane said, miffed by her uncle's words.  
  
"What? I wasn't..." Ranma rebutted as he was dragged  
outside.  
  
"They'll be fine," Hyaki reassured his old friend. "So, what  
are you up to for the next couple of hours?"  
  
"Nothing that I couldn't be persuaded to... ignore, my  
friend," Francis said slowly, letting a smile steal across  
his face.  
  
-  
  
Akane slowed her breakneck trot down to a slow amble as they  
got a block away. Neither one seemed to be willing to start  
a conversation.  
  
Finally, Akane took up her courage and spoke up. "So, what  
are you doing now? In training, I mean!"  
  
"Ah, just more basic flight school stuff. A little bit of  
simulator and schooling. They say I'm going to graduate from  
high school pretty quick." Ranma opened his mouth to  
continue, but finally opted to leave it at that.  
  
Akane noticed the pause. "Anything else?"  
  
Ranma looked at her just a moment. "Um, the doctors are  
working on desensitizing me to c-cats."  
  
"Oh? They're working of curing you of your phobia?" Akane  
asked interestedly. She smiled wistfully at how playful and  
trusting Ranma was when he was in the throes of the Cat  
Fist. And how he'd only ever calm down on her lap.  
  
Ranma winced, but nodded. "They say they aren't going to  
promise me anything, but they have a lot of ways to help  
with my sort of problem." Ranma laughed suddenly. "Dr.  
McGill wanted to press charges against Pop."  
  
"Is he?" Akane asked. She just had a hard time seeing Genma  
in court. He'd probably run away and disappear.  
  
"Naw. Told him it's not worth it. And it's not like he meant  
it or nothing. Just more training." Ranma sneaked a sideways  
glance at Akane as they stepped onto a path in the small  
central park of Macross City. Adam had recommended a little  
oriental restaurant that had recently reopened. He'd said  
that a lot of pilots had taken to hanging out there. "So,  
um, what're you up to?"  
  
"School, mostly. A bit of physical therapy to help with my  
wounds. Did my uncle tell you that I'm in the same class as  
Kodachi?" Akane said, a scowl appearing on her face.  
  
"Kodachi Kuno? What's that fruit cake doing here?" Ranma  
blurted out in surprise.  
  
"She was here for the opening ceremony. They put her in a  
regular school afterwards." Akane frowned in thought for a  
second. "She seems to be doing alright, actually."  
  
Silence stretched out uncomfortably for a minute. "So,  
you're doing a lot better?" Pain seemed to fill each word as  
Ranma talked.  
  
"Yes. My physical therapist is saying that I should be fully  
recovered in just another week or so. And they're talking  
about a glass eye that'll match my old one perfectly. After  
my cosmetic surgery is down, of course." Akane saw Ranma  
flinch at her words as she talked about her eye. Her heart  
nearly broke as his gaze stayed away from her face.  
  
She let her eyes lay on him, to etch into her memory his  
face one last time, when she finally realized it wasn't  
disgust or loathing that made it so Ranma wasn't looking at  
her. It was... remorse or guilt. And quite a bit of fear,  
she realized. "Ranma? W-what's wrong?"  
  
"Noth-nothing. Are you sure you want to go grab a bit to  
eat?" Spend time with a failure that couldn't even protect  
you?  
  
Akane thought about that a second. "Of course I'm sure! It's  
the first day that you've been released that I've had free.  
And I'm going to enjoy it!"  
  
Ranma felt and looked confused. Akane almost seemed to be  
saying that she wanted him. Wanted him to be here and to  
stay with her. The agony of not knowing, of having this  
shred of hope put before him was too much. He had to ask  
her. "Aren't you angry at me? For not protecting you?"  
  
"Angry? Why would I be angry?" Akane's mind whirled. Of  
course! That's why Ranma's been so different recently. "You  
did everything you could. And... and you saved me, didn't  
you? Why should I hate you?"  
  
Slowly, Ranma's eyes lifted up to meet her gaze. "I... I  
thought that you didn't like me because I let you get...  
hurt."  
  
Panic turned to relief as she turned and grabbed the front  
of his shirt. "You dummy! Adam told me that he believes that  
you saved my life! Why would you think that?"  
  
"Well you're always getting angry and your old man gets mad  
if I even ignore you and you should see the times when he  
thought you were in danger he was so mad and upset and  
angry..."  
  
"Ranma, just shut up a second. My family isn't here and I  
am! I'm not mad at you for getting hurt!" Akane stated  
loudly, almost shaking him.  
  
She watched in fascination, as the stress within him seemed  
to melt away and he became the self-assured young man that  
she was familiar with. He seemed to struggle with something  
to say, something that wouldn't anger her, when she suddenly  
threw herself into a hug, holding him desperately tight.  
  
Ranma's face started to glow a crimson hue in embarrassment.  
He really wasn't in any position to hold her back, but that  
didn't seem to be what Akane wanted right then. After a  
moment, Akane started to sob into his chest, almost  
uncontrollably.  
  
The poor young pilot didn't know what to do, except just be  
there for her. Minutes later, she finally calmed down. Ranma  
was struck by how odd it was that Akane only cried out of  
one eye, nothing had come from the ruined eye.  
  
"I was so afraid that you didn't want me because I was  
damaged," Akane said finally.  
  
"What sort of stupid thing made you think that?" Ranma  
snapped unthinkingly.  
  
"Well, you wouldn't look at me," she replied angrily.  
  
"That wasn't why I couldn't bear to look at you!"  
  
"So you can't even look at your own fiancee now because  
she's damaged goods?" Akane almost shouted.  
  
"You keep twisting my words! I didn't say that!"  
  
"So you do want to look at me?"  
  
"If I say yes, you'll just hit me, if I say no, you'll just  
hit me too! How the heck am I supposed answer that?" Ranma  
asked loudly, obviously exasperated as he waved his arms  
around.  
  
Akane blinked in sudden thought. "Oh." She then grinned  
mischievously, much to Ranma's ire. "You're supposed to say  
that I'm very tempted but I'm too much of a gentleman to do  
so."  
  
"Huh?"  
  
"Don't worry, Ranma, I'll give you some time to figure it  
out. Come on, let's go get some food!" Akane said as she  
sprinted down the trail.  
  
Ranma scratched his head, then shrugged and took off after  
her.  
  
-  
  
Ryoga was finishing his second bowl when the door dinged,  
signaling another customer. Shampoo and Minmei looked up  
expectantly.  
  
"Ranma! Nia ho! Shampoo very happy to see husband!" the  
young amazon chirped, bouncing over and latching onto Ranma.  
  
Ryoga's chopsticks snapped under his immense strength. No,  
he couldn't be here too, could he? "Damn him!"  
  
"What happen to Pervert Girl? Now Kitchen Destroyer even  
uglier, with patch-eye and face scars," Shampoo said snidely  
as she walked up to the duo.  
  
Ranma almost growled at Shampoo, "She was hurt during the  
attack on Macross Island." Akane looked like she was about  
to break down and cry.  
  
"RANMA!" Ryoga stood up and whirled, weariness suddenly  
gone, replaced by an intense anger at Ranma's unthinking  
actions. "How dare you let Akane be hurt!" He spun and  
picked up his umbrella.  
  
"Ryoga?" Ranma and Akane chorused.  
  
Ranma's surprise faded almost instantly. "What's it to you,  
P-chan? I didn't see you there," Ranma said coldly. "Of  
course, I'm not surprised to find you onboard the SDF-1."  
  
"For that failure, I'll kill you!" the Lost Boy shouted as  
he charged.  
  
The many pilots looked on in amazement as Ranma easily  
sidestepped the enraged martial artist and let him crash  
through the front door and throwing glass and steel far down  
the street. Ryoga turned around just in time to have a kick  
smash into his face, knocking him back, but hardly phasing  
him.  
  
"Come on, Pig Boy. I'm not taking this kind of crap from you  
anymore. You want a piece of me, come get it." Ranma's  
stance was loose and ready, his eyes alight with a cold  
glee.  
  
"Die, Ranma!" The youngest Hibiki lashed out with his  
umbrella, using it as if it were a foil.  
  
-  
  
Lisa Hayes scowled as she shut off the radio channel. The  
new pilots being trained were proving to be quite a bother.  
None of them knew anything about proper procedure. She took  
a moment to grab her coffee and take a sip before responding  
to the next call. This one should be simple, it was from  
Macross City's police force. The Mayor was probably wanting  
more information on when the Macross residents would be  
released.  
  
"Bridge here," Lisa said, tapping some more keys on her  
panel.  
  
"Bridge, this is Captain Marley, MP. We have a situation  
developing here that we can't handle." The voice sounded  
unsure. In the background, the sounds of concrete being  
smashed and metal tearing could be heard.  
  
"What is the situation?" Her coffee was instantly forgotten.  
That sounded like a battle!  
  
"We have two figures that are fighting each other and  
destroying vehicles and small buildings. One appears to be  
wearing a pilot's uniform, with cadet markings. The strength  
of their blows in unbelievable." The sound of more metal  
crunching could be heard. "They are at the intersection of  
Debois and Chambers. Are they even human?"  
  
Lisa flipped on her screen, patching in the overview cameras  
that helped during reconstruction. Amazingly enough, it  
showed a figure wearing the RDF's pilot uniform kicking the  
non-uniformed young man through a concrete wall. Seemingly  
unfazed, the unkempt man leaped to his feet and towards the  
slightly smaller foe, easily thirty feet away.  
  
"Captain? I'm not sure what to make of this!" Lisa  
exclaimed. All of the bridge crew looked over or tapped into  
the view.  
  
"Isn't that Saotome?" Claudia asked. The unusual young man  
had become a bit infamous already, even to the bridge crew.  
Kind of cute, the tall, black American thought.  
  
"Thunderations, they're tearing apart Macross City. Order  
him to stop immediately!" Captain Gloval commanded. He  
watched the console over Lisa's shoulder.  
  
"Yes, Sir. Cadet Saotome, you are to desist this activity  
immediately!" Lisa barked over the intercom.  
  
Ranma never took his eyes off of Ryoga, but he signaled to  
the watching camera that he had heard. He changed his entire  
method of fighting, suddenly blocking and dodging with his  
normal flare. "I wish it were that easy."  
  
"Who's that, Ranma? Another girl friend?" Ryoga shouted,  
even further enraged if that was possible.  
  
"That was Commander Hayes, second in command of the SDF-1,  
you idiot. If you didn't notice, I'm part of the RDF now."  
  
"Oh, someone else to hide behind? Bakusai Tenkatsu!" Ryoga  
shouted, suddenly stabbing the ground, trying to distract  
the martial artist.  
  
"Captain, Saotome's attacker is continuing to fight. Captain  
Marley is correct, his troops can't handle something like  
this." Lisa blinked in awe as saw Ryoga explode the ground  
with a mere touch. Ranma didn't seem affected, some sort of  
strange blur shielding him from the explosion.  
  
"Hmm. Send out two Destroids, armed with rubber bullets and  
tear gas. And I want answers about this when it's over!"  
  
"Yes, Sir!"  
  
Vince and Jack couldn't believe their ears as they revved  
the engines up on the walking behemoths they piloted. They  
were being ordered to subdue two people? In just a few short  
minutes, they arrived at the scene of the destruction and  
started to change their minds. Look at this mess.  
  
"Uh, commencing with pacification," Vince said over the  
radio. With a shrug, he flipped a switch and started to  
pepper the area with his mecha's handheld gun, loaded  
especially with anti-personnel rubber rounds. To his  
amazement, both figures dodged the shots.  
  
"Switch to thermal imaging." Jack thought it was a much  
better idea to saturate the area with tear gas. He really  
hoped these guys were human and that this worked. He  
launched a single rocket from the shoulder mount that burst  
into a spread of tear gas containers, covering the whole  
area.  
  
Ryoga and Ranma both started to hack and cough. Ranma wisely  
raised his arms up in surrender, even as his eyes and lungs  
burned. Ryoga turned his attention to the gigantic machines  
of war that had attacked him. Running slowly towards the  
figure, he leaped up and aimed to land on top of the  
machine.  
  
Jack shouted in alarm and reacted instinctively, the metal  
shod hands moving with inhuman speed. There was a solid wham  
of tough flesh being struck by metallic armor. Ryoga sailed  
through the air and smashed into the ground, leaving a  
sizable dent in the pavement.  
  
Ryoga didn't get up at that point.  
  
-  
  
Ranma stood at attention, awaiting for the arrival of the  
debriefing officer. His uniform was stained and tattered,  
his eyes red from the tear gas.  
  
"All right, Saotome. Explain this debacle. Now," Lisa Hayes  
stated in a tone of voice that brooked no argument.  
  
Ranma saluted sharply. "Yes, Sir! Uh, Ma'am. I was, uh,  
going to dinner with my fiancee and ran into an, uh, old  
acquaintance. He attacked me after learning that Akane, er,  
my fiancee, had been injured during the liftoff battle. He  
kind of became, uh, unstable and berserk."  
  
"Ma'am. And how are you both able to do so much damage?"  
Lisa asked coolly. She tapped her toe in frustration.  
  
"Huh? Oh, we're some of the best martial artists there are.  
I know a dozen or more people that can do that sort of  
stuff."  
  
"Next you'll be telling me that you can throw chi blasts  
from your hands like some arcade game hero."  
  
"Well, yeah. It's not really that tough." Ranma shut up  
suddenly, feeling he'd just said the wrong thing as her eyes  
bored into him.  
  
"Really. Well, Mr. Saotome, you've just earned a thorough  
physical and mental examination by Dr. Lang and the science  
staff. If they check out what you say, you'll be released.  
Depending on what they say, you may even be a pilot still."  
She turned to leave and then stopped. She then pointed out  
to Ryoga where he lay imbedded in the ground. "By the way,  
Saotome, does this gentleman happen to have the same sort of  
problems you do?" An insane martial artist machine of death  
and destruction was not something she wanted to contemplate.  
What could he be afraid of, she wondered?  
  
Ranma, of course, thought of their shared problem  
immediately. "Oh, yeah! He turns into a piglet if you splash  
him with cold water."  
  
Akane froze in mid step, from a scant ten feet away from  
behind Ranma. She did not just hear that. She couldn't have  
heard that. Ranma must be trying to pull some prank.  
  
Lisa blinked. He seemed sincere. "Anyone else here with one  
of these remarkable curses?"  
  
"Sure. Shampoo, she's one of the waitresses of the White  
Dragon, she turns into... a c-c-cat." Ranma tried to calm  
himself like the psychiatrist taught him.  
  
Akane's heart thudded painfully in her chest. He didn't even  
realize that she was there.  
  
"Very well. Captain Marley, take him into custody." Lisa  
turned and walked away.  
  
Little jigsaw pieces of a disjointed puzzle started to fall  
into place for Akane. All of Ranma's comments, always  
calling P-chan Ryoga and vice verse, always being so damned  
jealous of a pet. He'd always known. And he hadn't told her!  
  
"You! YOU! And Ryoga! Making fun of... You... creep!"  
Akane's battle aura flared to life, a dangerous and  
brilliant red. "I hate you!" Akane gulped in a large breath  
of air. "I never want to see you again, stranger!"  
  
With that, she turned and fled, leaving a totally  
flabbergasted Ranma wondering what he'd done. "Akane! Wait!"  
  
"Don't do it, kid! Slow and easy." Captain Marley and his  
squad of MPs trained their handguns at Ranma. "I think you'd  
better let her cool down."  
  
Ranma collapsed to his knees. "Akane." What had he done?  
She'd never been that mad before. Ever.  
  
Lisa released her held breath. Maybe Ranma hadn't been lying  
when he talked about some of the things he could do. Those  
powers and abilities, they weren't human.  
  
But that reaction was, it was so normally human it was  
scary.  
  
-  
  
Akane walked slowly home from school. In the past week,  
she'd been a mere shadow of her former self, merely going  
through the steps of life. Not even Kodachi had been able to  
goad a reaction from her. Her foot steps finally halted,  
only half way to her uncle's place. She just couldn't stand  
to go home right now.  
  
Her footsteps finally took her to the same park that she'd  
talked to Ranma. A time that seemed so short, yet so  
painfully long ago. She'd thought that she hadn't lost him  
and then found out the terrible secret. Not that it was much  
of a secret, she'd found out. Shampoo had known. And from  
her she'd learned that almost everyone it seemed had known.  
  
And Ranma had known. And hadn't told her. Oh, sure, he'd be  
snide and say his name. Ranma would even be jealous at the  
drop of a hat, if it looked like 'P-chan' would be taken to  
her bed. (That thought almost made her nauseous.)  
  
But come out and tell her? No, he was too much of a jerk.  
Always teasing her. Never telling her about Ryoga.  
  
'But he always called that pervert by his other name, no  
matter what form he was in,' a small voice nagged at her.  
  
'So?' she retorted back halfheartedly. 'He should have just  
said that Ryoga was using his curse to dishonor me!' She'd  
had this argument with herself almost constantly for the  
last week, each time it got weaker and weaker.  
  
'Weren't you too busy punishing him for hurting poor P-chan?  
Always protecting that pig, instead of hearing what Ranma  
said?' it continued unstoppably.  
  
A painful feeling welled up in her chest. Memory after  
memory of Ranma calling Ryoga P-chan, angering the lost boy.  
Guilt twisted a knife into her heart. Of him calling the  
little piglet Ryoga, angering her 'pet'. Unbidden, a memory  
arose in her mind.  
  
-  
  
"Charlotte! You're my darling Charlotte!" squealed Asuza.  
She was bouncing up and down.  
  
"Bfah! Ridiculous! My name is..." Ryoga said, shrugging off  
the little kleptomaniac's accusation.  
  
"P-chan!" Ranma said interrupted suddenly, appearing on  
Ryoga's shoulders. She somehow looked quite tiny as she  
looked over Ryoga's shoulders. "His name is..."  
  
"Will you shut up!" Ryoga roared, flinging the petite  
redhead away, across the ice rink.  
  
-  
  
Her guilt gouged at her heart, a cathartic pain that left a  
void in her heart. Ranma had been trying to tell her, in the  
only way he knew how. Trying to get past her obstinacy, her  
unwillingness to see that Ryoga was P-chan.  
  
'Always too busy defending that pig, weren't you?'  
  
Akane nodded her tear streaked face as she curled up on the  
bench, feeling smaller than an ant. Than a microbe.  
  
'Blaming him for picking on poor wittle P-chan?'  
  
Sobs racked her body, sending her farther into a gray void  
of self loathing. How could she have missed it. Ranma had  
all but come out and called her deaf, dumb and blind about  
it. Now here she was, Akane the dummy, Akane the really  
stupid, Akane...  
  
"Akane? Akane?" the quiet voice tried to reach her.  
  
Akane finally looked up to see who had intruded on her self-  
beratement. "Ra-Ran-ma?"  
  
"Yeah. Uh, your uncle called up the base and said that you'd  
disappeared. I got released finally..." Akane interrupted  
Ranma as she slammed into him, her grip deathly tight.  
"Jeeze, you need to relax, Akane."  
  
Akane only responded with sobs. He didn't hate her. That was  
all that was really important. Finally, the pain in her  
chest started to lessen, becoming just a dull throb. "Th-  
thanks, Ranma."  
  
"Huh?"  
  
"For coming and looking out for me. Even if you don't...  
like me." She'd just let him go, she suddenly decided.  
  
"What? I never said that!" Ranma played with his seemingly  
too tight uniform collar.  
  
"So you like me?" Akane inquired hopefully. "Even after I've  
treated you so badly because of Ryoga?"  
  
"Well, I didn't like that!" Ranma paused to take a breath.  
"I couldn't understand how you couldn't see what he was  
doing. That stupid bandana should have been a big clue!"  
  
Akane's face fell, returning to anguished remorse almost  
instantly. "I feel so bad. I was so stupid!"  
  
"Hold on! It wasn't really your fault! Please, don't cry!"  
Ranma unconsciously started to rock her slowly.  
  
Akane let him sooth her for a minute, her arms wrapped  
loosely around his waist. She looked up at him, their faces  
only inches apart. Her arms slid up his back, pulling him  
slightly towards her.  
  
Their lips touched, a jolt of energy seeming to jump between  
them. For long moments, they held themselves there. Finally,  
the parted enough to look back at each other.  
  
"Wow," Ranma muttered. That had been much more intense than  
any kiss he'd ever had.  
  
Akane blinked in bemusement. Slowly she smiled, a strange  
warmth suffusing her. The pig-tailed martial artist seemed  
to be willing to get back to work on their relationship. She  
hadn't lost him like she'd thought. He was just so far away.  
"Ranma? Why did you join the RDF?"  
  
Ranma swallowed suddenly. "I couldn't protect you from the  
aliens. The only way to protect you right now is the RDF.  
And I couldn't bear to see you hurt again."  
  
"But what about joining the families? You can't do that if  
you're in the military!" Akane asked plaintively.  
  
"Sure I can! But I have to protect you first."  
  
Akane looked into his eyes. "So you're doing this because  
it's your duty."  
  
Ranma eyebrows creased in thought. "No. Well, not entirely.  
That's not it."  
  
"You... you still want to... ?" Akane stuttered out in  
surprise. A rosy glow appeared in her cheeks.  
  
Ranma finally twigged onto what she was alluding to. "Well,  
yeah. I... do want to... someday."  
  
"Is it because of the promise?"  
  
Ranma shook his head slowly.  
  
And that was enough.  
  
-  
  
Ranma took a deep breath as he walked to the lift, where a  
group of trainee pilots waited on him. "Get a move on,  
Saotome!" Lieutenant Watts barked out.  
  
"Yes, sir!" Ranma snapped out the reply automatically.  
  
The lift ended on the main flight hanger, where maintenance  
crew worked on outfitting sleek Veritechs for their first  
unattended flight. Ranma checked out his Valkyrie, doing his  
walk by just as he'd learned. Satisfied that there wasn't  
anything left unchecked, he hopped into the cockpit.  
  
He closed the canopy and started flipping the transformable  
mecha on. He slipped on his helmet and sealed it up quickly.  
Almost immediately, he felt a cold but powerful presence  
radiating from the machine. "Damn." His flight instructor  
had said that it could take dozens of flights before he  
could feel the mecha through its mind/slave linkage. This  
was going to be like playing an arcade game while doing a  
Hiryo Shotan Ha.  
  
He mechanically followed directions, keeping right after  
their flight leader. Pretty soon they were maneuvering the  
powerful ship, taking them through the different forms and  
how they changed for tactics and moves.  
  
Lieutenant Watts blinked at the sleek movements that Ranma's  
Veritech was undergoing. "Hey, Saotome, you're flying pretty  
good for a novice."  
  
The Veritech suddenly wobbled, veering out of control.  
"Damn. Sorry! This takes a lot of concentration."  
  
"Saotome! Get back in formation."  
  
"Yes, Sir!"  
  
The lieutenant watched as he got control of the space  
fighter and slid it back into the group. "All, right. It's  
time to see what you pansies can do. Your Valkyries have  
been outfitted with targeting laser. You to try and shoot me  
down. That's all." Watts opened the turbo-charged engines of  
his latest model fighter, pushing it for all it was worth.  
They were in standard models, no match for his fighter.  
  
He was experienced enough that these kids weren't going to  
even get close. At least not without some serious teamwork.  
He had to hand it to them, they really tried. For ten  
minutes, he flew rings around his students, peppering them  
with oversized paint pellets.  
  
Ranma growled in frustration. He had just barely dodged the  
latest attack. It kept feeling like he was fighting his  
ship, instead of it following his orders like it was  
supposed to. A memory from one of the other pilots came to  
him. 'You live one of these ships, not fly it!'  
  
Ranma waited until he had a moment free from attack and then  
let out a deep breath. Don't think, Ranma. Live! The Art  
isn't about thinking, it's about doing! He relaxed suddenly,  
letting the cold presence seep into him, even as he let his  
senses drift out into the ship.  
  
Lieutenant Watts shook his head as his ship came zooming  
back in. He'd only managed to hit Saotome's ship once on one  
wing. It was time to end this lesson and get some lunch.  
"You're 'it' Saotome."  
  
Ranma didn't respond as his feet and hands moved, almost  
faster than the machine could cope. The Veritech suddenly  
leaped as if kicked by some giant, rocketing in a dizzying  
pattern, faster than the unaided eye could follow, shifting  
mecha-forms for increased maneuverability.  
  
Watts swore as he pegged the control into a corner and  
snapped out at the last second. Where the hell had he  
learned to fly like that? Adrenaline surged as the two  
pilots danced back and forth, thruster blaring up into the  
red.  
  
The older pilot suddenly jinked to the side while  
transforming, his pellet gun managing to stitch a line of  
paint down the top of the Valkyrie's canopy.  
  
Ranma blinked in surprise. "Damn. Got me any ways." He  
looked over his shoulder to see the Lieutenant Watts banking  
around. The roar of his engines trying to cool down was  
overwhelming.  
  
"Not bad. Not bad at all, Ranma. Fall in and let's get back  
to base."  
  
Ranma acknowledged with a wag of his battloid's hand and  
turned back. He toggled his radio to the SDF's control  
frequency. "This is T-Blue four, requesting permission to  
land." He flipped a switch to transform back into a fighter  
jet.  
  
Lisa Hayes frowned at the familiar voice. Why had she been  
out voted when it came to booting this particular pilot out  
of the RDF? "This is the SDF, T-Blue four. You are clear to  
land on the Daedelus, runway two."  
  
"Aye aye, Commander!" Ranma said smartly, toggling off the  
channel. She lined up the landing easily, even as her throat  
started to itch and her ears started to hurt terribly.  
Sudden vertigo hit Ranma forcibly, knocking her off course.  
The airplane skidded sideways for just a second. Landing  
gear snapped silently in the vacuum of space. The veritech  
started to flip, fuel igniting unchecked. The canopy  
exploded outwards, flinging its sole occupant out into the  
void.  
  
The small figure was scooped up by a giant mecha that  
reacted promptly, carried as carefully as a kitten by its  
mother. With a flash of thrusters, the veritech handed the  
singed figure to the deck crew at the airlock, frantic  
motions dragging the comatose body into the airlock.  
  
-  
  
Dry eyes blinked to wakefulness. It took long moments for  
the lights above her to come into focus. Turgid thoughts  
were replaced by minor aches and pains. She struggled for a  
second to sit up, the rest of the hospital room becoming  
visible.  
  
"Huh? What happened?" Ranma rasped out, startling the nurse  
where she was filling out a form.  
  
"My goodness. You're awake?" She looked surprised.  
  
"Yeah. Hey, what happened? I was in my fighter and... that's  
all I can remember." And I'm a girl?  
  
"You were lucky. We're not sure, but you blacked out on  
landing and your veritech crashed. That was yesterday. You  
were knocked around and banged up pretty good. No broken  
bones thankfully. I thought the doctor was going to keep you  
sedated for a while longer."  
  
"That' probably why I feel so woozy." Ranma was busy  
stretching, feeling the kinks and pains in her body. Not too  
bad. "So, when can I leave?"  
  
The nurse blinked in surprise. "Ah, you have some internal  
bleeding. We really can't let you leave."  
  
"Hmm. I've taken a lot worse training."  
  
"You're kidding, right?"  
  
"Nope. Why'd you ask?"  
  
She stepped out for a second. "Dr. Jennings, I need you to  
come talk some sense into this pilot."  
  
A moment later and Dr. Jennings appeared, slipping a  
clipboard under her arm. "What's the problem?"  
  
The nurse whispered into her ear for a second. The doctor  
nodded and sent the nurse away. "Now, Miss Saotome..."  
  
"I'm a guy, damn it!"  
  
"... Ranma. You've been in a serious accident and we're  
going to need to keep you here in the hospital for at least  
a week for observation. You're quite lucky to be alive."  
  
"A week? I've got an appointment with Dr. Lang today! He  
wants to do some more tests. I thought you were going to  
check me out and let me leave?"  
  
"I'm afraid that isn't going to be possible..." The doctor  
stopped in surprise again. She'd seen victims of  
decompression and near explosions. They were all terribly  
bruised, especially around the eyes, looking like they'd  
gone three rounds with Rocky Balboa. She been in here just  
an hour ago, to check the sedatives that this young woman  
was on. She did not match the figure in front of her. She  
could almost see the bruising fading away. "Monica? Can I  
have you come back in here?"  
  
"Yes, doctor?" The earlier nurse walked back in.  
  
"Was the bruising this far along in healing?"  
  
Monica looked over. She looked harder, scrutinizing the red  
head quite closely. "She definitely wasn't this far healed  
just ten minutes ago."  
  
"You gotta learn how to bounce back! Takes a long time to  
toughen your body that much, but it's worth it."  
  
"I'm getting too old for this. I have some rounds to make.  
I'll see if you're fit to be released later."  
  
-  
  
Lisa Hayes sighed, turning a page on her extra workload that  
the Captain had assigned her. Why did she get all of the  
weird ones?  
  
Her phone buzzed, demanding attention. "This is Commander  
Hayes. Yes, I was aware that Ranma Saotome is in the  
hospital. He's almost fully recovered? How is that  
possible?" She paused to listen. "I'll be right down."  
  
At least it'll be an excuse to avoid the bridge for an hour  
or so. Just a few minutes later and she was walking down the  
hallway of the hospital complex. She knocked at the door.  
  
"Come in!" called out the voice.  
  
Lisa stepped in and stared at the renewed figure in front of  
her. She'd stopped by yesterday to see how Ranma was doing.  
The petite figure that hovered on death's door last night  
only barely resembled the lean figure standing up. Ranma  
snapped a quick salute.  
  
"At ease. You do look much improved. Dr. Jennings says you  
are claiming that this is due to training?"  
  
Ranma nodded. "Yes, Ma'am."  
  
"I'm to accompany you for your examination by Dr. Lang." She  
caught Ranma's change in expression. "Is there a problem?"  
  
"Ah, not really. Just feel like a lab rat."  
  
"I'd like to ask you some questions as we go along."  
  
Ranma fell in step behind her. "Sure."  
  
"So, explain to me what happened yesterday during your  
landing."  
  
"Well, I was lining up to land. Pretty basic stuff, even if  
I'm a bit rough yet. I remember my throat starting to itch,  
my ears started to hurt and then I... well, blacked out."  
  
"Hmm. That matches what we've managed to get out of your  
black box. We think that you decompressed. That matches with  
your itching throat and then blacking out. Your flight suit  
is supposed to prevent that, but yours had a ripped seam."  
Lisa looked at him for a second. "We're almost positive that  
the paint pellets cracked your canopy. I'm going to be  
terminating that particular exercise before anyone else gets  
hurt."  
  
"Will I be allowed to fly still?" Ranma asked worriedly.  
  
"It doesn't appear to really be your fault. I'm going to  
write you up for letting your flight suit get damaged, but  
under the recommendation of your instructor, you'll be right  
back in the cockpit."  
  
Ranma sighed as they stepped into the elevator.  
  
"Don't be too relieved. I don't need any hot dogging pilots.  
If you screw up again, I'll nail you. Got that, Saotome?"  
  
"Ah. Yeah."  
  
-  
  
Akane ran through a series of kata's on a large mat, lost in  
the moment of motion. Around the edge, men in sweat suits  
slowly arrived and watched. She was dressed in her habitual  
gi, just as she always did when she practiced the Art.  
  
"So, are you the new instructor?" one of the men asked. She  
looked pretty decent as a martial artist. Around him the  
other men were chatting in the main gymnasium on base.  
  
Akane stopped, taking in the men around her. "No, I'm here  
to practice with my fiance. He's a pilot."  
  
"Lucky devil."  
  
"Uh hmm," Ranma cleared his throat right behind the bigger  
man.  
  
"S-Saotome?" Derrick stuttered, clearly shaken by the  
younger man's sudden presence.  
  
"Ready, Akane?" Ranma asked walking casually onto the mat.  
He was also wearing a gi.  
  
"Hiya!" the girl cried out, lashing out in a set of punches  
and kicks. Each kick and punch was evaded or blocked  
casually.  
  
Ranma attacked just slow enough that Akane had to work hard  
to either duck or block. As an exercise he was snap out  
punches to target areas and use his amigurikan speed to hit  
each spot in the air hundreds of times every once in a  
while.  
  
"Hey, Saotome, I thought you were good?" the instructor  
called out good naturely. Burns was a ripcord muscled man of  
average height with a buzz cut.  
  
"Whatcha talking about?" Ranma asked while ducking, blocking  
or leaping over his fiancee.  
  
"How about a little match?"  
  
"Nah. How about you, Akane? I think he might be a good  
challenge for you."  
  
"Quite dodging!" She stopped and considered for a second.  
"Sure, I guess."  
  
"I'm Roger Burns. Nice to meet you." The man held out his  
hand to shake.  
  
"Hello, sir. I'm Akane Tendo," Akane said as she accepted  
the handshake.  
  
They broke apart and started to circle one another. Akane  
lashed out in a set of punches and kicks, testing his speed  
and durability. She was disappointed when she nearly knocked  
him over in the first set of punches. She let up even more,  
not using a great deal of her strength. In just a few  
minutes, far too short in her mind, Burns held up his hands  
in defeat.  
  
He looked moderately interested, even as he shook his  
battered arms out. "You were holding back. Not that I'm  
complaining, mind you." He pursed his lips thoughtfully.  
"You wouldn't be interested in training these louts, would  
you?"  
  
That grabbed Ranma's attention back almost instantly. His  
fiancee looked surprised and then thoughtful. "I'd have to  
finish high school, but that sounds interesting. Sure!"  
Finally, someone who thought she was worth something in the  
Arts.  
  
"Yeah, you sure should," Ranma said brightly. He'd get to  
see her more often.  
  
All of a sudden the lights started to flash red, off and on.  
Over the PA system, an officious women started to bark out  
orders. "All pilots, to your fighters! This is not a drill.  
Prepare to sortie out. I repeat, all pilots, to your  
fighters!"  
  
Akane started trembling at the warble of sirens. She was a  
strong girl, not a child. The room emptied rapidly, Ranma  
giving a quick wave, his mind already on the battle ahead.  
In the changing light and confusion, he failed to notice her  
expression.  
  
Moment by moment, her trembling intensified. Unable to  
resist her terror, she collapsed to a huddled ball. She put  
her hands head, trying to shut out the noise, the terrible  
noise. "Mommy..." she managed to rasp out. Don't leave me!  
  
-  
  
"Oh, you have got to be kidding me!" Adam Victor shouted. He  
spun back around to look at his souped up fighter. "How long  
until you can get it back together?"  
  
A technician scratched his head. "Maybe ten, fifteen  
minutes, sir. I'll have to get extra men to do it tho'."  
  
"I don't have fifteen minutes. Hey, it's going to take at  
least five minutes for the pilots that went to Macross City  
to get here, right?" He snapped his fingers. "I'll  
commandeer one."  
  
"Uh, I dunno..."  
  
"I'm pulling rank, damn it. Get me next one and work on  
getting mine repaired." Captain Victor snapped out even as  
he snagged his helmet. He turned to the nearest unranked  
pilot's Veritech, yelling at the ground crew to get him  
airborne in two minutes.  
  
They managed it in just under his demanded time. Moments  
after the acceleration of the catapult, he was reconfiguring  
his board for his wingman. "All right you yahoos, fall into  
line. TAC says that we've got incoming alien pods. Let's do  
some good team work and kill the bad guys."  
  
"Yes, sir!"  
  
"Right on!"  
  
The three fighters were part of the first wave of Veritechs  
that slammed into the disorganized line of battle pods of  
the Zentraidi. Chain guns spat high speed death into their  
midst, even as the pods retaliated with particle cannons.  
  
Adam pushed the fighter as hard as he could, jinking back  
and forth. Timing it just right, he released two missiles  
that homed in on one battlepod. The pod tried to spin and  
shoot the missiles before they hit, to no avail.  
  
He cursed under his breath. This Veritech just wasn't as  
highly tuned as his was. And it was showing. Adam slammed  
the controls back and forth as quickly as possible, joystick  
moving from forward left to back left to straight right. He  
switched to battleoid to spin around faster, pelting the  
three pods behind him with gunfire. Two exploded  
spectacularly, while the third one was merely winged.  
  
The control panels and screen flickered and died. Fear  
gripped his heart in its icy embrace. "Oh, shit." He hit  
several switches, eliciting no response. Scrabbling fingers  
flipped open the panel that covered the emergency ejection  
lever. With a convulsive jerk, he pulled the lever. He heard  
two bangs within the confines of the cockpit before his seat  
was slammed into bulletproof armor at full power.  
  
"Captain!" his lead wingman screamed. "Get out of there!" He  
pulled in behind the ostrich-like pod that was arrowing in  
on the helpless fighter. His gattling gun rattled as it  
unloaded it's depleted uranium shells into, stopping its  
attack before it could shoot the floating mecha.  
  
A mecha that suddenly blossomed into a plasma ball of death.  
"Captain..." he whispered in shock.  
  
-  
  
Ranma slid around a corner and into the launch bay. He  
skidded to a halt, looking around frantically for his  
Veritech. "Hey, Jeanette! Where the heck is my ride?" he  
asked his normal tech that worked  
  
"Captain Victor took it! His ship wasn't ready!" she yelled  
out from under the Veritech that she was referring to.  
  
"So what am I supposed to do?"  
  
"Don't ask me!"  
  
"Damn." Ranma hopped up to the open cockpit of the fighter.  
He toggled a switch or two, getting an overly familiar mousy  
haired officer on the line. "Hey! Captain Victor took my  
fighter. Any idea what I'm supposed to do?"  
  
Lisa snapped out at him, "Take the next one that doesn't  
have a pilot! Bridge out!" Definitely not officer material.  
Couldn't he see that they were in the middle of a battle?  
  
"Aye aye!" Ranma replied to the blank screen, wincing. That  
lady really didn't like him, he thought ruefully.  
  
"Yo, Jeanette! Which birds don't have a pilot?"  
  
"The one you're sitting in, dumpkoff!"  
  
"I just got orders to take it from Commander Hayes."  
  
She leaned back so that she could look him in the eyes. He  
seemed to be telling the truth. And hell, the fighter was  
just sitting here. "Looks like your lucky day. You get to  
fly one of the hottest Veritechs in the flight roster. You  
break it, you answer to Adam! Give us five minutes!"  
  
"Right!" Ranma spun around to sit in the chair. He spent the  
next few minutes checking over the controls, which were  
slightly different. "Oh, right. Visually Inspect Self  
Safety!" Ranma muttered to himself. He checked all of the  
major seams like he'd had pounded into him for the last  
week. His probing fingers found a ripped seam up on his  
shoulder.  
  
"What the hell? I just checked this suit out from the  
quartermaster!" Ranma groused. He grabbed some tape and  
sealed to hole quickly. He finished up his check, finding  
two more holes, which he also repaired.  
  
"Saotome! Your clear!" another flight technician called out.  
  
Ranma gave him a thumbs up as he latched his helmet down.  
The canopy slid down and with a flick of a few switches, he  
was launched out, with only one Veritech behind him. "Green  
three reporting in!" Ranma called out.  
  
"Where the hell have you been?" Lieutenant Watts snapped  
out.  
  
"Someone took my bird, sir! I'm zeroing in on you! ETA is  
fifty seconds!"  
  
He really hoped so, as he was in serious trouble. He  
frantically manipulated his controls, sending his Veritech  
diving and rolling, the three battlepods right behind him.  
One of his wings was sheared off, sending him wobbling from  
a single blast.  
  
All of a sudden, the three pods exploded as black and red  
striped officer Veritech made its presence known. "Are you  
all right?"  
  
"Yeah! I'll live, but my birds all shot up." Watts breathed  
a sigh of relief. That was too close.  
  
"Don't worry! I'll join up with another wing! You get back  
to the ship."  
  
"Don't get your ass... shot... off. My God! Look at him go!"  
he exclaimed in surprise.  
  
Ranma was spinning his mecha around like it was a sparrow,  
shifting modes almost too fast to follow. He'd already  
racked up an immense amount of kills, expecting and getting  
120% power from his engines. The battlepods were discovering  
to their dismay that the pilot seemed to know where they  
were going to fire before they did, causing them to miss.  
Its return fire was always deadly accurate.  
  
-  
  
"Commander Breetai!"  
  
"Yes, Exedore. What have you found?" the giant Zentraidi  
asked, light gleaming off of his faceplate that covered his  
missing eye.  
  
"Sensors are detecting a high level shift in Protoculture  
energy!" the smaller, nearly malformed alien studied the  
panels in front of him. The two leaders of the attack force  
were situated up in the command bubble, overlooking the  
bridge of the mighty vessel.  
  
"Are they preparing to fire their main cannon?"  
  
"No, sir. This is coming from a fighter! The energy bands  
are twice as energetic as any of the other micronian ships  
of that size."  
  
"A single fighter will not make a difference."  
  
Exedore looked up from his screens. "That may not be true,  
sir. That one fighter has amassed almost a fifteenth of the  
micronian's kills against our forces."  
  
"Impossible!" Breetai surged to his feet. There were dozens  
of micronian fighters. "Get that fighter on the screen!" he  
demanded, slamming his fist against the console.  
  
In moments, a red and black banded Veritech appeared on the  
holo-monitor. It was obvious that the camera was having a  
hard time following. The screen suddenly shifted to another  
Zentraidi's as his face appeared on the screen.  
  
"Commander! We are prepared to begin the frontline assault!"  
the captain ranked officer declared.  
  
"Good hunting!"  
  
"I know you over rode my objections, but this one fighter  
worries me. If they can get this sort of performance out of  
all of their fighters, they could prove to be a deadly foe."  
Exedore's face was beaded with sweat.  
  
"There are no worries in my mind! Captain Jolzai will  
capture the super fortress!"  
  
"The micronians are reacting to the threat from the  
cruisers!"  
  
"On screen!" Breetai's commands brought forth a view of the  
shifting form of the battle fortress. He gasped in shock as  
the too-angular ship took on an aspect of a giant techno  
knight. "What are they doing?"  
  
"I don't know! This is unprecedented!"  
  
"The micronians are firing their main cannon!" the  
disembodied voice called out. "Jozai's forces have been  
utterly destroyed."  
  
"Recall all battlepods! We have the information we needed.  
Their main cannon does work." Light glinted off his face  
plate coldly. "I want something more, Exedore. And soon."  
  
-  
  
Ranma sighed in relief as she guided her ship back into the  
maw of the SDF-1's main hanger bay. She touched down  
normally, rolling the Veritech up to its bay. She popped the  
canopy and shucked her helmet. Who would have thought that  
the stale air of the SDF-1 would smell so good? As the  
engines idled down, she hopped to the ground.  
  
She noted another pilot headed her way. "Hey! Uriek, right-  
toof!" The sudden punch to her jaw caught her totally off  
guard, knocking her to the ground.  
  
"You bastard! You sent Victor out to die out there in your  
ship!" Uriek screamed out, attracting the attention everyone  
in the hanger.  
  
Ranma bounded right back to her feet. "What the hell are you  
talking about?" she shouted right back angrily.  
  
"Your bird just shut down without being hit! Adam didn't  
even eject before it then blew up!" Three other pilots  
grabbed the distraught wingman, holding him back, barely.  
"He probably couldn't!"  
  
"You idiot! I didn't even know he took my fighter until I  
got to the hanger! How the hell could I have done that?"  
  
Uriek broke free from and lunged at the girl. Ranma was  
ready this time, her hand effortlessly snagging his wrists  
with frightening strength. A gunshot suddenly stopped the  
fight.  
  
"That's enough! Saotome, Beckman, back off! Right now,  
you're both under arrest!" Lieutenant Watts snapped out,  
lowering his gun to point at the two.  
  
For a few tense seconds, nobody moved. Finally, Ranma  
released him. The lieutenant waved them over to the side of  
the hanger. He held up his hand forestall everyone following  
him. Anger bubbled up within him. How could Ranma cause so  
much trouble? His angry glare noted that Ranma was a girl  
right then, trying to find fault with that. It almost  
bypassed the gray pieces of tape on both shoulders and on  
one side of her neck. A cold chill suddenly danced down his  
spine.  
  
"Saotome, what's wrong with your suit?"  
  
"Huh? Oh, I found some rips when I did my VISS like you told  
me to do..."  
  
"Those sons of a bitches. Those sons of bitches tried to  
murder you in cold blood," Watts declared, his face turning  
white in shock.  
  
Uriek Beckman snapped a startled glance, noting the same  
patches.  
  
"You two are coming with me!" the officer announced, waving  
them ahead of him with his gun.  
  
-  
  
"Ryoga Hibiki?" a voice called out from jail cell doorway.  
  
"Yeah?"  
  
"I managed to get you sentenced lightened to community  
service. You're damned lucky that the judge was as nice as  
he was," the officious looking man said as he led Ryoga out  
of his cell. "He said if he ever saw you again, he'd throw  
everything he could onto your next sentencing."  
  
The Lost Boy winced, knowing that was likely true. He did  
wonder how that had happened. He was halfway down the cell  
block when the door opened and two figures were led down  
towards them. He was stopped by his lawyer. "We have to wait  
for them."  
  
Ryoga grinned as he saw it was Ranma that was being led  
towards a cell with another fellow.  
  
"You two will stay here until the murder investigation is  
done."  
  
Ryoga started at that. His arch nemesis merely nodded her  
head and entered the cell. "That can't be right!" Ryoga  
suddenly exclaimed.  
  
"Oh?"  
  
"Ranma's no killer!"  
  
"That's up to the judge." 


End file.
